25 Celebrities, Including Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, Booked for Promoting Betting Apps

News Network
March 20, 2025

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Hyderabad: A police case has been registered in Telangana against 25 celebrities, including prominent actors Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, and Manchu Lakshmi, for allegedly endorsing illegal betting apps. The FIR was lodged following a complaint by businessman Phanindra Sarma.

The list of accused celebrities and influencers also includes Praneetha, Nidhi Agarwal, Ananya Nagalla, Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padhmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Sunny Yadav, Shyamala, Tasty Teja, and Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha.

According to the FIR, these individuals promoted betting platforms through social media advertisements, encouraging users to invest money in illegal online gambling. "These platforms deal with transactions worth thousands of lakhs of rupees, pushing several families—especially from middle-class and lower-middle-class backgrounds—into financial distress," states the complaint.

The complainant alleged that many people have lost their savings due to these apps. He claimed that he himself almost deposited money on one such platform but refrained after being warned by his family. The FIR further accuses the celebrities of accepting substantial remuneration to endorse these apps, thereby influencing the public—particularly those facing financial hardship—to invest and eventually fall into addiction, leading to severe financial consequences.

The case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Information Technology Act, and applicable state laws concerning cheating and online fraud.

Reacting to the FIR, actor Prakash Raj clarified that he had endorsed such a platform back in 2015 but opted out within a year. He stated that he is currently gathering more details about the case.

This development comes amid heightened scrutiny of Telugu cinema celebrities. Notably, it follows the controversial arrest of Allu Arjun in December after a tragic incident at the premiere of Pushpa 2: The Rule in Hyderabad, where a woman lost her life due to a chaotic crowd surge. Police had claimed the actor’s presence at the event was unplanned and that no security measures were in place to control the large turnout.

The arrest of Allu Arjun had ignited a heated debate, drawing criticism from political opponents of the ruling Congress and key figures in the film industry. In response to the controversy, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy met with a delegation of filmmakers and actors, reassuring them of the state’s support for the film industry while asserting that law and order would remain a priority.

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News Network
April 16,2025

New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain petitions filed by the NIA against the bail granted to 17 Popular Front of India members in the 2022 murder case of RSS leader Srinivasan in Kerala's Palakkad district.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh noted that the Kerala High Court order granting bail to the accused is one-year-old and the HC has the power to cancel bail if the conditions are violated.

"Our attention is invited to observation made in the last part of the impugned order by which high court has reserved liberty to the petitioners to apply to special court for cancellation of bail.

"Therefore, the petitioners can always apply to the special court for cancellation of bail on the grounds which are set out in the affidavits filed in these petitions. In fact the special court will be the more appropriate court," the bench said.

The top court said the agency can satisfy the special court about the breach of terms and conditions of grant of bail by producing materials against the accused.

"Therefore, at this stage we decline to entertain the special leave petitions with liberty to the petitioners to move the special court/high court for cancellation of bail. Needless to say that if the prayer made by petitioner does not succeed before the special court/high court remedies of the petitioners remain open.

"We make it clear that as and when application is made for cancellation of bail the special court or high court should not be influenced by the fact that this court has declined to entertain the present special leave petitions," the bench said.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Raja Thakare, appearing for the NIA, sought cancellation of the bail and submitted that the accused have violated the bail conditions and have contacted the witnesses.

The Kerala High Court on June 25, 2024 granted bail to the 17 accused PFI members, who are also facing trial for allegedly instigating communal violence in the state and other parts of the country.

Granting bail to 17 of the 26 accused, the high court imposed stringent conditions, which include sharing their cellphone numbers and real-time GPS locations with the investigating officer.

Aside from that, the accused were ordered not to leave Kerala, surrender their passports and keep their cellphones charged and active round-the-clock.

It had directed the 17 to "present themselves before the special court which shall enlarge them on bail on such conditions as the special court may deem necessary".

Initially, 51 persons were arraigned as accused in connection with the murder of Srinivasan on April 16, 2022. One among those held died while seven others are absconding.

Chargesheets against the remaining persons were filed in two phases in July and December, 2022.

While police was investigating the murder, the Centre received information that the office bearers and cadres of the Popular Front of India and its affiliates in Kerala had conspired to instigate communal violence and radicalise its cadres to commit terrorist acts in Kerala and other parts of the country, the high court noted in its order.

Therefore, the Centre in September, 2022 directed the National Investigation Agency to take up and probe the case against the accused.

On December 19, 2022, the Centre, referring to Srinivasan's death, opined there was a larger conspiracy hatched by the leaders of the PFI "which has grave national and international ramifications" that needed to be "thoroughly investigated to unearth the wider conspiracy and to identify the other accused".

The Centre directed the NIA to take up the probe in the murder case as well, and the agency filed its consolidated chargesheet in 2023 with two supplementary chargesheets later.

Immediately after the respective NIA chargesheets were filed before the special court, the accused moved for bail.

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coastaldigest.com news network
April 16,2025

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Mangaluru: Starting April 22, 2025, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will strictly enforce separate disposal of sanitary waste, along with existing waste segregation norms. This decision was formally announced by MCC Commissioner Ravichandra Naik on Tuesday (April 15) during a training session at the Town Hall for civic workers.

What’s Changing?
All households and establishments must now segregate waste into the following four categories:
 
Categories of Waste (Effective April 22)
1.    Wet Waste
– Food scraps, vegetable peels, garden waste, etc.

2.    Dry Waste
– Paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, glass, metal, etc.

3.    Sanitary Waste (Now mandatory to separate)
– Sanitary pads, baby napkins, adult diapers, medical dressings, etc.

4.    Rejected Waste / Non-Recyclables
– Broken glass, ceramics, unusable plastics, thermocol, etc.

Rules and Penalties
•    Sanitary waste must be placed in a separate bin and must not be mixed with any other waste.
•    Violators will be fined ₹500 for the first offense, with higher fines for repeat violations.
•    Mixing plastic items like tubs and bottles with wet waste will also attract penalties.
“Improper segregation is a serious issue. MCC areas generate 5 to 10 tonnes of sanitary waste daily,” said Commissioner Naik.

MCC’s Awareness Campaign
To help the public understand the new system:
•    MCC will distribute pamphlets and notices this week.
•    These materials will explain the four waste categories and penalty clauses in detail.

QR Code Monitoring Returns
The MCC is also relaunching its QR code-based tracking system to monitor waste collection and staff attendance.

How it works:
•    QR codes are installed at buildings.
•    Civic workers will scan them using a new mobile app.
•    The app will send real-time updates to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC).

Current Status:
•    MCC manages 2.37 lakh properties.
•    90,000 properties in 60 wards already have QR codes installed.
“The new system will help us track both garbage pickup and civic worker attendance more accurately,” said Naik.

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News Network
April 14,2025

Bengaluru: The leaked contents of Karnataka’s long-awaited caste census suggest a significant policy shift—extending the creamy layer rule to Category 1 castes under the backward classes reservation list. This category includes some of the most disadvantaged nomadic and microscopic communities.

The commission, headed by Jayaprakash Hegde, has reportedly recommended that the creamy layer policy—already applied to categories 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B—be extended to Category 1. The report notes that some groups within Category 1 have achieved considerable progress socially, economically, educationally, and politically, thus justifying the introduction of a filtering mechanism.

The panel emphasized the growing inequality within Category 1 itself, stating that children from impoverished farming and labourer families are unable to compete with the children of wealthier households in the same category.

“The competition is stiff here and there is a threat that this category may become one populated by the rich in due course if the creamy layer policy is not implemented,” the report reportedly states.

It further underlines that to fulfil the constitutional goal of equitable opportunities, the policy must be introduced across all categories of backward classes, including Category 1.

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