QBengaluru: State Power Bills to Go Up; Task Force for Lynching
The latest news updates from Bengaluru.
advertisement
1. Electricity Bills to go up in Karnataka due to Fuel Adjustment Charges
Your electricity bill could soon increase even if you are using the same amount of power.
This, after the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) granted permission to five electricity supply companies to collect fuel adjustment charges (FAC) in their bills.
The companies include BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited) which will collect 14 paisa per unit, HESCOM (Hubballi Electricity Supply Company Limited) which will collect 8 paisa per unit, MESCOM (Mangalore Electricity Supply Company) will collect 4 paisa per unit, CESC (Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited) and GESCOM (Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited) which will both collect 5 paisa per unit as FAC, according to a report by Deccan Herald.
(Source: The News Minute)
2. State to Form Task Force to Deal With Lynching, Fake News
In the wake of multiple incidents of mob lynching triggered by child-lifting rumours on social media, the police department has decided to form a Special Task Force (STF). Director general and Inspector general of police N Neelamani Raju has issued a circular to prepare list of areas prone to mob violence.
Bengaluru city, Bidar and Mangaluru are vulnerable to mob violence, a police officer said.
The STF will collect information from the ground and also, intelligence reports about people who are likely to commit such crimes or involved in spreading rumours, hate speeches or fake news on social media.
DCPs in charge of law and order will be the nodal officers in the commissionerates and SPs in districts. There will also be assistant nodal officers of the rank of ACP in the commissionerates and DSPs in the districts.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Karnataka Unlikely to get Separate Flag by This Rajyotsava
With the state government showing no interest in implementing the Kannada flag proposal – one of the pet projects of former CM Siddaramaiah – it is likely to remain only on paper this Karnataka Rajyotsava on 1 November. In June 2017, an order was issued by the Kannada and Culture department to form a committee to look into the new design of the flag for Karnataka and also legalities of the state having its own flag.
Siddaramaiah had held several meetings with Kannada organisations, literary personalities, legal experts and other stakeholders for suggestions. The flag idea was approved by the State cabinet, and in March 2018, the then CM Siddaramaiah had unveiled it.
Kannada Development Authority Chairman S G Siddaramaiah told The New Indian Express that former CM Siddaramaiah had sent the proposal for the flag to the Union government for final approval. “We sent it in March, but they are yet to approve it,’’ he said.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
4. Senior Citizens can Register for ID Cards Online
Senior citizens in the state can now register online to get State government-authorised senior citizens’ identity cards.
The Department of Disability and Senior Citizens Welfare launched the portal here on Monday on the occasion of The United Nations International Day of Older Persons. Until now senior citizens had to procure ID cards attesting their age through empanelled agencies. This has been made simpler as now they can apply for the card with the click of a button.
The portal can be accessed on the official website of the department. Those who want to register have to provide their mobile number and scanned copies of address proof and photographs. Once submitted, the department will verify their personal details before issuing the identity card.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. Karnataka Cabinet Expansion by End of Next Week, says Kumaraswamy
Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday said that all seven vacant positions in the 34-member cabinet will be filled by the end of next week in a move aimed at ending the constant infighting among senior Congress leaders that has threatened to destabilise the coalition government since its formation more than four months ago.
Kumaraswamy’s announcement about filling up the cabinet positions, which is already delayed, comes in the wake of his predecessor, Siddaramaiah, saying that the cabinet expansion and naming of heads of boards and corporations will be taken up in the third week of September.
Of the seven vacant positions, six are available with the Congress while one is with the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), according to the alliance agreement that came about after the state’s electorate delivered a fractured mandate with no party winning the required numbers to rule on its own. According to the post-poll agreement, the Congress would get 22 portfolios and the JD(S) would get 12, including that of the chief minister.
(Source: Livemint)
6. 'Rafale for India Not to be Ready for Bengaluru Air Show'
The controversial Rafale fighter India ordered would not be ready to fly at the Bengaluru air show in February, an IAF official said on Sunday.
"Rafale for India will not be ready by February. We expect Dassault to fly some other Rafale at the Aero India show here on February 20-24, 2019," Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal RK Singh Bhadauria told IANS at a press conference here.
The French aerospace major (Dassault Aviation) is set to deliver 36 Rafales multi-role medium combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in fly-away condition from September 2019 onwards.
The 12th edition of the 5-day biennial air show will be held at IAF's Yelahanka base on the city's northern outskirts as before.
(Source: Business Standard)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)