Mangaluru man arrested for duping people after promising foreign jobs

In response to a surge in dengue cases, the Karnataka government has declared dengue an epidemic, laying out specific responsibilities for the public and government agencies, and empowering officials to take necessary actions.

A recent gazette notification announced the amendment of the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Regulations, 2020, now titled the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Regulations, 2024. These updated regulations, effective from August 31, mandate comprehensive measures to prevent mosquito breeding, which is a primary cause of dengue.

The regulations specify that owners, builders, managers, institutions, and occupants of any land, building, household, or public space—such as parks, water tanks, or playgrounds—are responsible for enforcing measures to prevent mosquito breeding. These measures include:

• Covering water storage containers and tanks.
• Proper disposal of solid waste to prevent water accumulation.
• Ensuring that unused tanks, pits, burrows, or buildings under construction do not collect water.

These requirements apply to both private and government-owned properties, as well as semi-government establishments.

Under the amended regulations, the Chief Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in Bengaluru and the Deputy Commissioners of each district outside BBMP jurisdiction have been designated as the competent authorities to oversee the implementation of these measures. They have the authority to inspect properties, issue notices, and enforce compliance to prevent the spread of dengue.

As part of the enforcement, the authorities have the power to inspect lands, buildings, water tanks, parks, playgrounds, and other areas periodically. If they find any collection of water that could serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, they are authorized to issue notices requiring the responsible parties to eliminate the water and destroy the breeding sites. Failure to comply can result in a penalty of up to Rs 2,000. An additional 50% of the initial penalty may be levied for each week of continued non-compliance after a notice has been served.

In a proactive step, the BBMP and the state health department have launched a pilot study, installing 120 ovitraps in Gopalpura to help curb the spread of dengue.

As of September 2, Karnataka has reported a total of 25,408 dengue cases, resulting in 12 deaths.

A high-ranking official with the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says the six Israeli captives found dead in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip were killed in Israeli airstrikes against the besieged coastal territory.

“The ones who kill our people daily are the Israeli colonizers with American weapons. The captives found in Gaza were not killed by us but by the relentless Zionist bombardment,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, said in a statement on Sunday.

He further criticized the United States, saying, “If President [Joe] Biden truly cares about the lives of Israeli hostages, he should cease his support for this enemy with money and weapons and pressure Israel to end its aggression immediately.”

Rishq emphasized that Hamas had been more concerned about the lives of the hostages than Biden himself, citing Hamas’s agreement to a ceasefire proposal and the UN Security Council’s resolution, both of which were rejected by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Earlier on Sunday, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, alleged that Hamas murdered the six captives, whose bodies were found inside a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The Israeli army identified them as 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.

Hamas has offered to release Israeli captives in return for an end to the genocidal war on Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu has taken a tough line in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, and repeatedly said that military pressure is needed to bring home the captives.

According to Israeli media, he has feuded with the regime’s high-profile officials who have said a deal should be struck urgently.

Hamas has said that dozens of captives were killed by Israeli airstrikes targeting Gaza.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 last year after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.

So far, the regime has killed at least 40,691 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents. Another 94,060 Palestinians have sustained injuries as well. 

Udupi: The Udupi CEN Police have arrested two people from Gujarat in connection with a cybercrime where they posed as customs and police officers and swindled Rs 1.33 crore from a 53-year-old man in the name of FedEx courier. The police have recovered Rs 13.95 lakh and five mobile phones from the arrested. 

Udupi Superintendent of Police Dr Arun K said that the arrested are Navadia Mukeshbhai Ganeshbhai (44), from Surat and Dharamjeet Kamlesh Chauhan (28), from Rajkot in Gujarat.

Complainant Arun Kumar had stated that he had received a call on July 29 from an unknown number, posing as a customs official and falsely claimed that a FedEx courier booked using the victim's Aadhaar number contained five passports, five ATM cards, 200 grams of MDMA, and $5000.

When the victim denied booking a courier, the fraudsters connected him to a senior officer who claimed to be a police officer who in turn had informed him that his Aadhaar card had been linked to several bank accounts used by terrorists to purchase SIM cards.

The victim was then put under "virtual arrest" wherein he was monitored via Skype. Based on the instructions of the ‘officers’ he was confined to a room in his house from July 29 to August 9. He was asked to transfer money to various bank accounts to resolve the case.

Based on the complaint, Udupi CEN police had registered a case under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act, and Section 318(4) of the BNS.

The SP had formed a special police team led by Inspector Ramachandra Nayak comprising PSI Ashok and officers Praveen Shettigar, Rajesh, Arun Kumar, Yateen Kumar, Raghavendra Karkada, Dikshit, Prashant, Mutteppa Adin, Mayappa Gadade, Parashuram, and Sudeep to investigate the case.

Sources said that the police was closely monitoring the bank accounts involved in the scam and acted immediately when the money was withdrawn, and suspects were arrested.