Tumakuru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation chairperson S R Srinivas on Sunday said the fare hike in government buses in the state was inevitable.

He said the KSRTC has submitted a proposal to the state government to increase the fare by 15 to 20 per cent.

“We had a board meeting two days ago. We have proposed a hike of 15 per cent to 20 per cent. The rest is up to the discretion of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. If KSRTC is to survive, fare hike is inevitable,” Srinivas said.

Noting that the prices of fuel and auto parts have gone up substantially, the KSRTC chairperson said the fare hike has not been effected since 2019.

“The salary revision of the KSRTC employees has not been done since 2020. Hence, increasing the ticket price is necessary.” According to him, the corporation has incurred a loss of Rs 295 crore in the last three months.

The transport corporation has also submitted a proposal to purchase 40 new Volvo buses to the government.

He added that so far 600 regular buses have been procured.

To a question whether the hike would burden male passengers since women are allowed to travel free of cost under the ‘Shakti’ scheme, Srinivas said there is no question of putting burden only on men.

The KSRTC chairperson said the state government is bearing the expenses of women travelling in the buses.

Addressing the BJP’s UP working committee meeting here, Adityanath said while the BJP managed managed to maintain its vote share of previous elections, there was a “shifting of votes”, and now the “defeated” opposition is “jumping around” again.

The chief minister said, “Under the leadership of PM Modi, we had maintained constant pressure on the opposition in UP, achieving great success in 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2022 (national and state elections).”

“The percentage of votes that BJP had in its favour in 2014 and subsequent elections, BJP has been successful in getting the same number of votes in 2024 as well, but the shifting of votes and overconfidence have hurt our expectations,” he said.

“The opposition, which had earlier accepted defeat, is again jumping around today,” the chief minister said here at the concluding session of the day-long meeting at Ambedkar Auditorium of Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University in Lucknow.

Adityanath’s remarks comes after a day after the BJP-led NDA’s dismal performance in by-elections in seven states.

In a boost to the INDIA bloc, its members won the bypolls to 10 of the 13 assembly constituencies in seven states, while the BJP managed to bag two and an Independent pocketed one as votes were counted on Saturday.

The Election Commission is yet to announce the schedule for the assembly bypolls in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 33 seats, down from 62 it clinched in 2019. The Congress won six seats, while its INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party bagged 37 seats from UP, which sends 80 members to the Lower House of Parliament.

Addityanath said the BJP does not have to “go on the backfoot” since they have done good work.

Addressing party workers, he said “When you were in the opposition, you used to fight for the issues of the people. When you were in government, you saw the security environment in UP. Remember, roads used to be empty during Muharram, and today, it is being held without attracting any attention.”

Praising the law and order in the state, Adityanath said, “After the 2022 (UP Assembly) elections, the opposition started jumping around and resorted to violence. But with your support in our government’s ‘Mafia-free UP’ campaign, we succeeded in freeing the state from goons and mafia.”

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Sunday ordered the formation of an inquiry commission into the alleged alternative site scam in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

According to the order, High Court judge (retd) Justice P N Desai will head the single-member commission.

The commission will be required to complete the inquiry and submit its report to the state government within six months.

The departments concerned and the MUDA officials will have to cooperate with the investigation by providing the necessary documents and information to Justice Desai, the order said.

The government passed the order late Sunday night ahead of the Legislature session, which will start on July 15 and culminate on July 26.

The scam gathered steam after the BJP alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi was one of the beneficiaries of alternative sites (plots).

Siddaramaiah categorically rejected the allegation and claimed that MUDA “illegally” took over the four acres land belonging to his wife and formed a layout without her permission.

The CM said MUDA compensated them by providing them alternative plots.

The BJP has raised doubts about the claim saying how can MUDA touch such a “high profile” property.

The party has pegged the size of the scam somewhere around Rs 3,000 crore.

 Petrol pump owners said PUC centres will be shut from Monday onwards, expressing their dissatisfaction over the recent proposed hike in rates of pollution certificates by the city government.

The operation of the pollution under control (PUC) centres is unviable, they said in a statement issued on Sunday.

Delhi government on Thursday increased the PUC certificate charges for petrol, CNG and diesel vehicles after a gap of about 13 years. The hike ranges between Rs 20 and Rs 40.

The new rates will be effective as soon as it is notified by the Delhi government, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had said.

In a statement issued, the Delhi Petrol Dealers’ Association (DPDA) said, “Since the operation of PUC centres is unviable, many PUC centres have surrendered their licenses in the last few months. The managing committee of the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association has thus resolved to close PUC centres at their retail outlets across Delhi from July 15 in light of arbitrary and grossly insufficient hike in PUC certification rates, which will not in any way mitigate the losses of the dealers in operating the PUC centres,” the statement said.

The Delhi Petrol Dealers’ Association, after eight years of writing letters to the transport department and the transport minister had earlier called for a closure of the PUC centres from July 1 due to its unviability, it said.

The association said PUC rates were last revised in 2011 after a gap of six years and the percentage increase then was more than 70 per cent.

“The rate hike announced by the Delhi government now after 13 years is merely 35 per cent whereas all our expenses in the operation of a PUC centre have increased multiple times with just the wages having increased three times from 2011 to 2024,” the statement said.

Oil marketing companies have also been charging heavy rents from the PUC centres — 10-15 per cent of the total revenue — which was not the case earlier, the statement said.

“Various other operational costs of the PUC centre have drastically increased over the last 13 years. The expense to the customer earlier was four times the current cost as the frequency of PUC certification was once a quarter, which has now come down to once a year due to changes in certification norms for BS-IV and above vehicles. This also has led to a reduction of revenue by 75 per cent,” it said.

“The Hon’ble Minister of Transport, Govt. of NCT of Delhi in a meeting with Delhi Petrol Dealers Association had called our demands legitimate. The Delhi govt proposed a 75 per cent hike based on the inflation index with simple interest calculation, after which we deferred our strike on June 30.

“While we were trying to convince our dealers to agree on the 75 per cent hike in pollution checking rates, we were informed by the press of a hike of Rs. 20, Rs. 30 and Rs. 40 in the above mentioned segments, which is merely a 35 per cent average hike. We have also come to know that there is no basis or justification for the calculation, and the figure is arrived at arbitrarily,” the statement said.

 Ratna Bhandar, the revered treasury of the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri, was reopened on Sunday after 46 years for an inventory of valuables and the repair of its structure, officials said.

The members of a committee set up by the state government for the purpose entered the temple around 12 pm, and after performing rituals, the treasury was reopened at 1.28 pm, the auspicious moment which was decided at a meeting in the morning, they said.

Work for preparing the inventory did not start on Sunday and it will take time.

The reopening of the Ratna Bhandar was a major political issue during the recently held assembly elections.

Targeting the then-ruling BJD over missing keys of the treasury, the BJP had promised that it would make efforts to reopen it if the party won the polls.

“On the wish of Lord Jagannath, the Odia community, with the identity of ‘Odia Asmita’, has started making efforts to move forward,” the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a post on X in Odia.

“On your wish, the four gates of the Jagannath temples were earlier opened. Today, on your wish, the Ratna Bhandar was opened after 46 years for a greater purpose,” it said in the post.

Among the 11 people present when the treasury was reopened were former Orissa HC judge Biswanath Rath, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee, ASI Superintendent DB Gadanayak and a representative of Puri’s titular king ‘Gajapati Maharaja’, officials said.

Also among them were four servitors who took care of the rituals.

They came out of the Ratna Bhandar, which has an inner and an outer chamber, around 5.20 pm.

“We carried out all the works as per SOP. We first opened the outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar and shifted all ornaments and valuables kept there to the temporary strong room inside the temple. We have sealed the strong room,” Padhee told reporters.

“Then, the authorised persons entered the inner chamber of the treasury. Three locks were there. No lock could be opened with the key available with the district administration. So, as per the SOP, we broke the three locks in the presence of a magistrate, and then, we entered the inner chamber. We inspected the valuables kept in the almirahs and the chests,” he said.

Padhee said the committee decided not to shift the valuables from the inner chamber immediately.

“The process of shifting the valuables has to be done at once. It was not possible today. We will fix a date to shift the ornaments after the completion of the Bahuda Yatra and ‘Suna Vesha’ rituals,” he said.

The idols of the sibling deities of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra are at present in the Gundicha temple where they were taken during Rath Yatra on July 7. They would be brought back to the 12th-century shrine during the Bahuda Yatra on Monday.

“After shifting the ornaments from the outer chamber, the temporary strong room has been locked and the keys have been given to three authorised persons as daily use ornaments are also there,” Justice Rath said.

New locks were used to secure the doors of the inner chamber and the keys were handed over to the Puri collector, he said, adding that the entire process was videographed.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the custodian of the temple, also inspected the condition of the inner chamber, officials said.

Before entering the temple, Padhee said the priority was to ensure the safety of the structure of the treasury, which is located in the basement of the temple.

“The inventory work will not start today. It will be done after getting approval of the government on the engagement of valuers, goldsmiths and other experts. After the completion of the repair works, the valuables will be brought back and then, the process for inventory will be carried out,” he added.

Six wooden chests with brass interiors were brought to the temple for moving the valuables.

The chests, made of teak, were 4.5 feet in length, 2.5 feet in height and 2.5 feet in breadth, an official said.

“The temple authority on July 12 had asked us to build 15 such chests. After working for 48 hours, we have completed six chests,” said one of the workers who made them.

The treasury was last opened in 1978, and at that time, it took 70 days to prepare the inventory of the valuables, which have been donated to the temple by devotees over centuries, officials said.

An attempt was made in 2018 as well to reopen the Ratna Bhandar on the direction of the Orissa High Court but the original keys could not be found, and eventually, the plan was abandoned.

Padhee said Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been formulated for the entire process.

“Three SOPs have been formulated. One is related to the reopening of the Ratna Bhandar, the second one is for the management of the temporary Ratna Bhandar, and the third is related to inventory of the valuables,” he said.

The government has decided to prepare a digital catalogue of the valuables in the Ratna Bhandar that will have details such as their weight, another official said.

As it was apprehended that inside the treasury there were snakes, believed by devotees to be guarding the valuables, snake catchers were called. However, no snake was found there, officials said.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in a post on X, said the BJP government has fulfilled the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people of Odisha.

Congress leader KC Venugopal addresses a press conference at AICC Headquarters

New Delhi: Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on Saturday accused the Modi government of targeting his phone with a “malicious spyware” and asserted that “we will oppose this blatantly unconstitutional act” and breach of privacy.

Venugopal shared the screenshot of a message purportedly from Apple which said that “you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID”.

In a post on X, Venugopal said, “Thank you PM Modi ji for sending your favourite malicious spyware on my phone also! Apple has been kind enough to intimate me about this special present of yours!”

“Let’s be clear, the Modi government is acting in a criminal and unconstitutional manner, going after political opponents and invading their privacy in this manner,” the Congress general secretary, in-charge organisation, said.

The message of the Lok Sabha elections was that the people reject any attack on the Constitution and the “BJP’s fascist agenda”, he said.

“We will oppose this blatantly unconstitutional act and breach of our privacy tooth and nail,” Venugopal said.

The message purportedly from Apple, whose screenshot Venugopal shared, stated that Apple had previously sent him a notification on October 30, 2023 but this was not a repeat notice and was to inform him that another attack against his device had been detected.

“Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID’¦This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do. Although it’s never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning ‘“ please take it seriously,” the message read.

“These attacks cost millions of dollars and are individually deployed against a very small number of people, but the targeting is ongoing and global. Since 2021, we have sent Apple threat notifications like this one multiple times a year as we detect mercenary spyware attacks,” it said.

“Today’s notification is being sent to targeted users in 98 countries, and to date we have notified users in over 150 countries in total,” it further said.