QBengaluru: Fuel, Liquor to be Costlier; Test Results of 4 Awaited
Latest news and updates from Karnataka.
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1. Costlier Fuel and Liquor to Fund Agriculture, Water Infrastructure
The economy is slowing, adversely impacting revenue collection. Devolution of central funds to Karnataka has been reduced significantly by the 15th Finance Commission – on the grounds that the state’s IT sector, which accounts for a quarter of its GDP, is exempt from taxes on its exports. These concerns prefaced Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s budget for 2020-21, prompting him to say, “This magnitude of economic difficulties was never faced in the previous years by our state.”
To raise revenue, he did what governments tend to do under such circumstances. He increased taxes on petrol and diesel, and excise duty on alcoholic beverages. We will now pay Rs 1.60 more per litre for fuel. Liquor prices, for a 180ml bottle, will rise anywhere between Rs 2 and Rs 27.
Yediyurappa stayed away from other favourite taxation segments – property and motor vehicles – because they have been in the throes of a prolonged downturn. In fact, he reduced stamp duty from 5% to 2% for first-time buyers of an apartment costing less than Rs 20 lakh.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Coronavirus Scar: 5 Men in Isolation Wards; Test Results of 4 Awaited
Five men with travel history to countries affected by Covid-19 were in isolation wards of various hospitals across Karnataka on Thursday. Test results of four are awaited.
While three men were in Rajiv Gandhi Hospital for Chest Diseases (RGICD) in Bengaluru, one was in Bidar district hospital and another in Udupi district hospital.
One of the Bengaluru patients is a 33-year-old male, had travelled to the Philippines and returned on 26 February. “He self reported at RGICD and is under observation. He has fever and sore throat. Another patient with fever and travel history to Oman was sent from Kempegowda International Airport on 4 March,” said Dr C Nagaraja, director, RGICD.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Flipkart Co-Founder Sachin Bansal Accused of Dowry Harassment
A dowry harassment case has been filed against Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal by his wife Priya in Bengaluru’s Koramangala police station. Four persons have been named in the FIR – Sachin Bansal, his father Satprakash Aggarwal, mother Kiran Bansal and brother Nitin Bansal. The couple got married in 2008 and in her complaint Priya alleges that the dowry harassment began prior to their wedding.
In her complaint to the police on 28 February, 35-year-old Priya alleged that her father had spent over Rs 50 lakh for their wedding and had given Sachin Rs 11 lakh in cash. However, from court records it seems that Kiran Bansal had filed a case against her daughter-in-law a few weeks prior to this. The nature of that case remains unclear.
Read the full report here
4. Coronavirus: Sale of Industrial Masks Triple; Docs say They Won’t Help Much
The fear of a potential Covid-19 outbreak has caused a surge in the sales of industrial masks, even though medical experts say the protection may not be a foolproof safety from the disease.
Bengaluru-based industrial products distributor Calcutta Industrial Products, which sells masks to automobile, pharma and other industries, admits the demand among general consumers has spiked.
“Our clients are companies. We sell industrial products like masks, boots and other protective gear. But lack of medical masks in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak has forced people to turn to industrial masks,” the company’s director Amit Banthia told DH.
(Source: Deccan Herald)
5. ₹66 Crore for Kempegowda Statue at KIA
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has walked a tightrope while providing allocations to various castes, but has been wary while making provisions for religious communities. Huge allocations have been proposed for installing statues of Kempegowda and Basavanna, icons of the two dominant communities in the state.
The government has earmarked Rs 66 crore for a 100-foot statue of Kempegowda at the Kempegowda International Airport. Yediyurappa also announced an allocation of Rs 20 crore for a 325-foot tall statue of Basaveshwara at Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga.
Besides, the government plans to construct Anubhava Mantapa in Basavakalyana, Bidar district, at a cost of Rs 500 crore. To this end, the CM allocated Rs 100 crore for the year 2020-21.
(Source: The Times of India)
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