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After slight dip, Karnataka reports over 4k Covid cases

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BENGALURU: In what could be a clear indication of people not following Covid-appropriate behaviour, Karnataka on Saturday reported about 1,000 cases more than what it recorded on Friday. While, 3,310 cases were recorded on Friday, the figure was 4,272 on Saturday.

Dr CN Manjunath, Covid-19 state task force committee member and Director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research said, “Firstly,  daily testing has increased in the state going up to 1.7 lakh. Another reason is that people have started travelling both inter-state and inter-district. We are right now in the last phase of the second wave. We had seen three digit numbers during the end of the first wave. We are yet to reach there,” he said. 

The state recorded 115 deaths with an increase in the mortality rate (1.22%), on Saturday.  Most of the deaths reported were from Bengaluru Urban (16), Mysuru (22) and Dakshin Kannada (14).  Meanwhile, Bengaluru too saw an increase in the number of cases on Saturday compared to the previous day. The city saw 955 fresh cases on Saturday compared to 614 reported on Friday. “People have started to move around and most of them are not following Covid norms. One should not take it lightly as we are still in the second wave,” said a doctor from KC General Hospital in the city.

India records 50,040 new COVID-19 cases, 1,258 deaths in a day

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NEW DELHI: A single-day rise of 50,040 fresh COVID-19 infections took India’s tally to 3,02,33,183 while the number of active cases reduced to 5,86,403, according to Union Health Ministry data on Sunday.

The death toll climbed to 3,95,751 with 1,258 more people succumbing to the viral disease in a day.

The number of active cases has further declined to 5,86,403 and now comprises 1.94 per cent of the total infections, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Recoveries outnumbered daily new cases of COVID-19 for the 45th consecutive day with the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surging to 2,92,51,029.

The case fatality rate stood at 1.31 per cent.

While the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.75 per cent, the weekly case positivity rate has come down to 2.91 per cent.

According to the Health Ministry data, the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.82 per cent.

It has been less than 5 per cent for 20 consecutive days.

India administered 64.25 lakh vaccine doses in a day, taking the cumulative number of jabs given so far under the nationwide inoculation drive to 32.17 crore, according to immunisation data published at 7 am.

Also, 17,45,809 tests were conducted on Friday for the detection of COVID-19, taking the total number of tests conducted so far in the country to 40,18,11,892.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore total COVID-19 cases on May 4 this year and three crore on June 23.

Four years of GST: The good, bad and ugly

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NEW DELHI: On Friday, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan sparked a controversy, when he said that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was faulty and that there is a need to 
re-tool and restructure it.“Sensible people may agree or disagree on a design or system or platform, but logic says you keep re-evaluating based on the outcomes. Have you achieved the goals you wanted? Have you avoided the failures you feared? If the  answer to both those is ‘no,’ logical people would  say ‘re-tool, re-structure’,” Rajan said while addressing a virtual meeting organised by IIM-B’s Alumni Association, Chennai Chapter on ‘Tamil Nadu: The Road Ahead’. The criticism may sound “strongly worded” but as the GST regime is set to complete four years this week, even its strongest supporters agree that the GST regime is still a work in progress and there is a need for many structural changes for a more stable and hassle-free system.

Good intent, but marred by tech glitches & design flaws

Introduced as one of the biggest economic reforms by the BJP-led Modi government, the GST kicked off with the promise to streamline taxation and compliance burden. Experts also claimed that in many ways, it has streamlined the process. “Based on the one nation one tax ideology, GST has helped in reducing the cascading effect of tax considerably. Also, multiplicity of compliances under various indirect taxes has been reduced. Hence, introduction of GST in India has brought in efficiencies in indirect tax compliance, incidence and reduced the number of indirect tax authorities that a taxpayer needed to interact with,” said Saloni Roy, senior director, Deloitte India.

Another positive is the concept of e-invoicing which seeks to ensure greater transparency in supplier-receiver transactions. The introduction of e-way bill coupled with the crackdown on fake invoicing has helped in bringing in a substantial portion of GST revenues, which were either being evaded or under-reported, in order. 

However, the technical glitches, difficulty in claiming input tax credit and ever changing rules make compliance a cumbersome business.“Input Tax Credit (ITC) is an area which has certain limitations that need to be addressed. The GST regime sought to have a seamless flow of ITC, however,  conditions for availing ITC being stringent, many taxpayers lost out on ITC. Also, taxpayers lose their ITC due to non-reporting or mistakes by their suppliers,” Roy said.

That apart, taxpayers are also complaining about the imposing an arbitrary monetary limit on availing input tax credit through Rule 36(4) and mandating that a certain percentage of GST has to be paid in cash. These laws are making life difficult for even the most honest taxpayers.In the initial years of GST rollout, former finance minister Arun Jaitley had promised to reduce the tax slabs to three by merging 12 per cent and 18 per cent slabs. However, it remains a distant reality after so many years. Falling revenue amid disruptions causued by the Covid-19 pandemic has continuously delayed the reform, leaving a large number of items in high tax slabs. Lack of clarity on many rules is also leading to various litigation and different interpretations (of the same laws) by Advanced Ruling Authorities in different states.

“The government needs to establish GST Tribunals to reduce litigation timelines and the pressure on courts. The state authorities for Advance Ruling should ideally also have an independent jurist member, apart from a representative from the tax department,” Roy suggests. Centre Vs States When the states had agreed to the GST implementation, they knew they had to let go of some share of their taxes. But the Centre promised to compensate the state with revenue foregone for the first five years after implementation of GST.

Meanwhile, the meetings of the GST Council are not as frequent as they were earlier, if the recent incidents are anything to go by, and it often end up with disagreement, fight and strong letters and statements. States have also accused the Centre of cornering a substantial portion of tax in forms of cess. Last year, the GST Council had borrowed `1.1 lakh crore to pay the states in order to make up for the shortfall. Still, `63,000 crore is pending which the Centre intends to pay this year.

Road ahead As the GST council is likely to meet soon to decide on this year’s compensation, the opposition-ruled state governments are likely to seek an extension of GST compensation on their revenues beyond June 2022, when the five-year window ends. The Fifteenth finance commission, in its latest report, has addressed many issues including large shortfall in collections as compared to original forecast, high volatility in collections, accumulation of large integrated GST credit, glitches in invoice and input tax matching, and delay in refunds. The Commission also observed that the continuing dependence of states on compensation from the central government for making up for the shortfall in revenue is a concern. While at the same time it suggested that the structural implications of GST for low consumption states need to be considered. 

Five held including kingpin of chemical expert arrested,Alprazolam manufacturing Unit and trafficking network busted by NCB Bangalore,seizes contraband worth Rs 2 crore

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Parmesh jain

Five held including kingpin of chemical expert arrested,Alprazolam manufacturing Unit and trafficking network busted by NCB Bangalore,seizes contraband worth Rs 2 crore

The Bangalore and Hyderabad units of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday jointly cracked down on an Alprazolam manufacturing and trafficking network spanning Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and recovered contraband worth Rs 2 crore and cash Rs.62 lakhs .

Amit Ghawate,(Zonal Director,NCB Bangalore),said,Based on specific intelligence inputs developed from monitoring the racket, officers of NCB, Bangalore Zonal and Hyderabad sub-zonal unit on Friday succeeded in intercepting a mini-truck used in trafficking Alprazolam at Kolar Industrial area in Karnataka’ Bidar, and seized 91.5 kg of Alprazolam from it.

Immediately thereafter,the factory where the contraband was manufactured was raided under the banner-Indu Drugs Pvt Ltd,Bidar,Karnataka, was searched.

During the search,remnants of Alprazolam powder were found in the factory manufacturing equipments and confirmed that the said consignment was manufactured in this unit.

Simultaneously,searches were conducted by the officers at the house of NV Reddy,in Hyderabad, who was illegally running The Alprazolam factory, which lead to recovery of 62 lakhs of Rupees, believed to be proceeds of drugs.

The kingpin of the syndicate,S Bhaskara and the chemical expert YV Reddy,who had manufactured the drug at Indu Drugs,tried to flee the spot and were apprehended after a high-speed chase by NCB team.

A total of five persons namely S Bhaskar,YV Reddy,S Meenon,Amruth and NV Reddy,all residents of Telangana were apprehended in this connection.

The investigation revealed that the Alprazolam was meant for sale in Telangana.Further investigation is under process.

Illegal manufacturing and trafficking of Alprazolam in Telangana is a cause of
concern for law enforcement agencies. Alprazolam is a psychotropic substance
belonging to the benzodiazepines class,which are anti-depressants.

However, the same is largely trafficked illegally for recreational usage worldwide.

In the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Alprazolam is widely used as a cutting agent for illicit toddy.

Alprazolam laced toddy is very dangerous and it causes serious health complications,including death,Mr.Amit Ghawate, said.

Finally NCB acknowledges the dedicated efforts of,Amit Ghawate,IRS (Zonal Director,NCB Bangalore)and other officers associated to the case at NCB, Bangalore Zonal Unit and NCB, Hyderabad Sub Zonal Unit.

Sensational murder case of Former BJP corporator Rekha Kadiresh cracked within 24 hours,Two arrested after shot at on their leg

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Pramesh Jain

The Special team of West Division police has solved the sensational murder case of Former BJP corporator Rekha Kadiresh within 24 hours and arrested two persons after opening fire at them.

The accused has been identified as,Peter,46,and Surya,20.

The two accused are involved in several cases,Peter is involved in 6 cases,such as,3 murder cases,1 attempt to assault and 2 dacoity cases.

Where as Surya is involved in 4 cases,such as,2 Murder cases,and 2 attempt to murder cases.

The two accused after commiting the crime were hiding near Shanimahatma Temple near Summanahalli Junction near Park they were doing party.

The arrested two Peter and Surya sustained injuries in their legs.The police shot them for resisting arrest and attacking the lawmen with sharp weapons.

Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa had assured on Thursday that the assailants will be nabbed within 24 hours.

City police commissioner,Kamal Pant told media persons,firstly I congratulate the special team of DCP West,Dr Sanjeev M Patil and his team who has worked relentlessly without sleeping whole night from yesterday in cracking the case.

The Former BJP corporator Rekha Kadiresh (46) was hacked to death in broad daylight near to her office in flower garden under cottonpet police station limits.

As soon as the murder incident was reported Addl CP East,S Murugan along with DCP West,Dr Sanjeev M Patil,with other senior officers and additional police force were call in for the precautionary measures and security was heightened in the area.

After inspecting the spot and collecting all the information from the police team four special teams were formed to nab the assailants who has brutally murdered the former Corporator Rekha Kadiresh by stabbing her on the neck the assailants stabbed her more than 17 times in the broad daylight.

As the assailants well pre planned and used their criminal mind and turned away the CCTV cameras installed near to her office.

Four special teams were formed under the supervision of DCP West,Dr Sanjeev M Patil,after getting clues about the assailants the team swung into action.

The teams pressed into action one team was busy in collecting information from the neighbouring areas about the enemity between the former Corporator if any.

Another team was busy in collaborating the CCTV footage in the vicinity the team after collaboration of CCTV footage started analysing the CCTV footage and got a clue of the assailants.

Another team was busy in gathering information the family members what could be the reason to murder the former Corporator whom they suspect.

Another team was busy in tracking the accused through technical inputs and other technology skills of investigation and after collecting information from the informants the team traced the accused.

A special team headed by PIs,as,CB Shivaswamy, Kumaraswamy BG and their team rushed to the spot to nab the assailants who were hiding in a park near Shanimahatma Temple Summanahalli Junction under kamakshipalya police station limits.

As the team spotted the accused Sub inspector and constable went to secure them as they spotted the police the duo attacked the police personnel with sharp weapons and tried to flee by attacking the team.

The police inspectors,as,BG Kumaraswamy and CB Shivaswamy who were at spot immediately took their service revolver and opened one round fire in air and asked the duo to surrender as the accused dint heed to the warning and again tried attacking the inspectors with dagger.

The inspectors opened fire on both the accused in self defense and both the accused sustained bullet injuries in their leg and were arrested after shot at.Both the accused and injured police personnel are undergoing treatment at a hospital.

He even said we have information about other people involved in the murder and would catch them soon.

The accused had been trusted associates of Kadiresh for several years now,Pant said.Police said directions of CCTV cameras outside the BJP office where Rekha was attacked were altered as turned away by the culprits before the crime.

The complainant in the case Sanjay,nephew of the deceased and one of the first responders after the attack on her,identified Peter and Surya as the assailants based on what Ms.Kadiresh reportedly told him.

Both Peter and Surya,were close associates of Kadiresh,who met a similar fate in 2018.Both had rowdy sheets against them.

They have footage showing Peter and Surya attacking the Former BJP corporator with the lethal weapon they stabbed her nearly 17 times and fleeing from the scene and Stephen was also seen in the crime scene.

sources said Stephen was a relative of Kadiresh helping them flee.Senior police officers said that the team of assailants were five in number and search was on for the other three,who have also been identified.

We are yet to unravel the entire conspiracy behind the murder and only the interrogation of the duo would reveal that he said.

Rekha”s husband Kadiresh was murdered in 2018.He was stabbed to death by two youth on February 7, 2018.His killers had later surrendered before a city court.

A case has been registered in cottonpet police station and further investigation is on.

Finally Chief Minister of Karnataka,BS Yediyurappa,Home Minister and law Minister of Karnataka,Basavaraj Bommai,Revenue Minister,R Ashoka,DG&IGP,Praveen Sood,has appreciated Bengaluru City Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant,and his team as,Addl CP East,S Murugan, DCP,Dr Sanjeev M Patil,ACPs,as,P Ravi,UD Krishna Kumar,PIs,as,Chidananda Murthy,BG Kumaraswamy,CB Shivaswamy,GT Sreenivas, Lokhapur,Manjunath,PSIs,and other crime staff who has worked relentlessly without sleeping whole night yesterday with their painstaking investigation and tremendous efforts by the whole team has helped in cracking the case within 24 hours and arrested the dreaded criminals and for the good piece of investigation by the team a special reward will be given to the team he added.

Finally Chief Minister warned all the Anti social elements who are indulged in anti social activities and criminal activities to not to indulge in those activities and maintain peace in the society if they continue they will be dealt with stringent action and we will not leave this type of rowdyism activities in the city to repeat said CM BS Yediyurappa and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar gets one-day NCB custody in drugs case

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THANE/ MUMBAI: A court at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra’s Thane district has remanded Iqbal Kaskar, brother of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody for one day in a drugs case.

Magistrate MM Mali on Friday remanded Kaskar in the anti-drugs agency’s custody. Kaskar’s alleged involvement in the case surfaced following the recent seizure of 27 kg of hashish. “The NCB officials had sought his custody for examination in the case,” an official has said.

The NCB had recently arrested seven persons in two cases in which 27 kg hashish was recovered. During investigation, it came to light that the narcotics drug was sourced from Jammu and Kashmir. Also, the alleged role of Kaskar, lodged in a Thane jail, surfaced in the case, following which his custody was sought.

“On perusal of the remand report and case diary, it appears that the case is of serious nature triable by special court. Hence, sufficient opportunity of investigation is required,” the magistrate said, while handing over his custody to the NCB.

In 2017, the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Thane police had arrested Kaskar in connection with an extortion case.

He had been deported from the United Arab Emirates in 2003. Kaskar was said to be operating his brother’s real estate business in Mumbai. The Thane police had earlier booked him under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOCA) Act.

Delta-plus Covid variant under control for now in Karnataka: BSY

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BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday said that the new Delta-plus variant of Covid-19 is under control for now in the state. Yediyurappa, who convened a meeting of officials and ministers on Friday evening to assess the pandemic situation in Karnataka, stressed that more vigil must be exercised at the Maharashtra and Kerala borders. Currently, there is no restriction or prohibition on inter-state travel, but the CM has asked officials to closely monitor and test those arriving in Karnataka from these two states.

Weddings allowed, but with 40 invitees only

The government on Friday issued orders on further relaxations for weddings and related gatherings in the state. Starting Monday, weddings will be allowed at hotels, party halls or resorts, but with a cap of 40 persons. “Those organising marriages shall obtain prior permission from the authority concerned, i.e., Joint Commissioner of the BBMP Zone in BBMP area or tahsildar concerned at the taluks. The officer shall issue 40 passes per marriage function by name. Only people with passes shall be allowed to attend the marriage function and passes shall not be transferable,” said the order. Those organising weddings as well as owners of wedding halls will be liable for action as per the Kamataka Epidemic Diseases Act 2020, Disaster Management Act, 2005, if Covid-19 protocols and guidelines are not  followed.

No need to panic about new Covid variant: Sudhakar

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BENGALURU: Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday said that there was no need to panic about the Delta-plus variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. “There are two cases of the new variant — one in Bengaluru and the other in Mysuru, both with mild symptoms. The Mysuru patient has completely recovered,” he told reporters.

Further, with a surge in cases in Kerala (where the positivity rate is more than 10 per cent), more tests will be conducted in the border areas. “We have instructed the district administrations to conduct more tests on the border… it is not appropriate to seal the border. We need to be cautious at bus stands and railway stations,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, regarding the treatment protocol, Dr Ravindra Mehta, senior consultant and HoD, Pulmonology and Interventional Pulmonology, Apollo Speciality Hospitals, said, “So far, there is no change in the treatment protocol. It is known that for the Delta variants, monoclonal antibody cocktail works. However, this was known only during the end of the second wave and not tried on many. Going by this, it can be used to tackle the Delta-plus variant also.” 

Expand Congress’ base without hurting Maharashtra government: Central leadership to Nana Patole

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MUMBAI: Amid Congress’ worsening ties with the Shiv Sena, the party’s Maharashtra unit chief Nana Patole was asked by the central leadership on Friday to refrain from making controversial statements that could land the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in trouble, especially at a time when there’s a strong buzz of the Sena turning soft towards the BJP. 

He had announced that the Congress would be going solo in future elections, prompting Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to lash out at the party. “The party leadership has asked Patole to expand the party base without hurting the incumbent government. The Congress wants the MVA to last its full five-year term. It does not want to lose a resourceful state like Maharashtra at this juncture when the party is struggling to float. It is in power in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, but these states cannot be compared with Maharashtra,” said a highly placed source.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders in the state are also unhappy with Maharashtra in-charge HK Patil for interfering in district-level appointments for party posts. “If he wants to do anything, he should convey a message through the state president or another senior state functionary. Patil recently sent a voice mail to all district units asking them to submit three names each for district president. It’s not his call to appoint Congress district presidents; it is the right of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. Patil is overstepping his brief,” said a source.

Several complaint letters have gone to Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking Patil’s replacement, the source added.

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