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Udupi bypoll: Jayaprakash Hegde wins battle for Congress ticket

naeem@coastaldigest.com (CD Network)
February 20, 2012

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Udupi, February 20: The name of former Minister Jayaprakash Hegde has almost been finalized as the Congress candidate for the Loksabha by-election for the Udupi-Chikmaglur constituency scheduled for March 18.

The high-level Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee meeting held in Bangalore on Sunday once again decided to recommend Mr. Hegde's name to the party high command as its official candidate.

The meeting convened to discuss the preparations for the forthcoming byelection was attended among others by KPCC president G. Parameshwar, Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, Opposition leader in the Legislative Council Motamma, MP H. Vishwanath.

The meeting discussed a wide range of issues including the selection of the candidate, preparation for the election, organizing party workers etc.

Although B L Shankar, D K Taradevi and Vinaya Kumar Sorake had emerged as possible candidates, the leaders decided to go with Mr. Hegde, who had unsuccessfully contested against D.V. Sadananda Gowda in 2009. The seat has become vacant after Gowda took over as the chief minister of the State.

According to KPCC sources, the party would officially announce its candidate on Wednesday.

The party will have to tread carefully while choosing candidate as the parliamentary constituency has four each assembly segments of the coast and Malnad region which are diverse in culture as well as political affiliations.

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News Network
March 21,2025

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Assembly on Friday passed Bills doubling the salaries of the chief minister, ministers, and legislators, adding an annual burden of ₹62 crore on the exchequer.

The CM's monthly salary will increase from ₹75,000 to ₹1.5 lakh, while ministers will see a 108% hike, from ₹60,000 to ₹1.25 lakh. MLAs and MLCs will get ₹80,000 per month, up from ₹40,000, and their pension will rise from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000.

The Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill and the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill were passed without debate, as the Opposition BJP protested in the well of the House.

The Bills cited the rising cost of living as justification for the hike. The Assembly Speaker and Legislative Council chairperson will now receive ₹1.25 lakh per month, up from ₹75,000.

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coastaldigest.com news network
March 20,2025

Mangaluru International Airport (MIA), Karnataka’s second busiest airport, has seen 148.5kg of gold smuggled between 2019 and December 2024, with 90% arriving from the UAE. Customs officials recorded 346 cases, averaging 30kg of gold seized per year (2.5kg per month). Most smugglers are from Kerala and Bhatkal.

A senior customs officer revealed that MIA sees at least five gold smuggling cases per month. Numbers dropped during the pandemic but surged after flights resumed. Many offenders are first-time carriers, while some are habitual smugglers. With fewer flights, customs thoroughly checks passengers, making smuggling harder.

Smugglers constantly innovate concealment methods. Hiding gold in the rectum remains common, but gold is also found in trolley bags, mobile covers, chocolate boxes, milk powder, biscuit packets, and clothing layers. Electronic devices like car speaker magnets, LED bulbs, AirPods, wristwatches, and ballpoint pens have been used.

Unusual tactics include hiding gold in a woman’s hairband, a baby’s diaper, and even a kheer mix packet (347g). In one case, a passenger attempted to smuggle 100g in his mouth under a mask but was caught.

Officials note that while the UAE remains a key source, smugglers now bring gold from other Gulf countries, continuously adapting to evade detection.

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News Network
March 27,2025

nandini.jpg

The Karnataka government has announced that Nandini milk will become ₹4 costlier per litre starting April 1, 2025. This is the second price hike this year.

The decision was made during a cabinet meeting led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Karnataka Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna and Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh said the increase is meant to support dairy farmers by covering the rising costs of producing and processing milk.

Officials also said that:

>> The extra money from the price hike will go directly to the milk producers.

>> The earlier ₹2 price hike (announced on June 26, 2024) will be withdrawn.

>> The new price hike of ₹4 will apply to both 500 ml and 1-litre packets.

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