Bengaluru, July 11 (IANS) The Karnataka Lokayukta conducted raids at 56 locations, including residences, offices and other properties of some officials on Thursday in connection with a disproportionate assets case.

Sources said that more than a hundred officials were involved in the raid.

According to sources, simultaneous raids were conducted against 11 government officials. The operation was initiated based on allegations of acquiring assets disproportionate to known sources of income. The simultaneous raids were conducted in Bengaluru, Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru, Chitradurga, Kalaburagi, Belagavi and Hassan districts.

The sleuths have obtained a search warrant from the court to conduct searches, inspections and seizures.

In Bengaluru, the residence of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and his relatives were raided.

A raid was being conducted on the house of a Tahsildar in Kolar city, and inspections were underway. Meanwhile, a raid was conducted on the house of a Grade-1 Secretary in Hassan. His houses in Hassan and Bengaluru were being inspected.

Lokayukta raids have also taken place in Mandya and Mysore. In Mysore, Lokayukta officials raided the house of a superintendent engineer in the irrigation department. Officials were conducting inspections at his residence in J.C. Nagar, Mysuru. Additionally, documents were being examined at the Gokulam office.

In Mandya, raids were conducted on the houses of a retired executive engineer and his relatives. The raids took place at three locations in Mandya district and two locations in Mysuru. In Mandya district’s Ijjlaghatta village, a farmhouse belonging to him, his father’s house, and a jelly crusher were also raided.

In Chitradurga, a raid was conducted on the house and farmhouse belonging to a retired engineer. The places included his farmhouse in Sugur, Hiriyur taluk, and a bottle factory near Aimangala, sources stated.

The official statement is yet to be made by the Lokayukta over the raids.

–IANS

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Visakhapatnam, July 11 (IANS) The accused in the murder of a minor girl in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalle district has allegedly committed suicide, police said on Thursday.

Police, who were on the hunt for the accused for four days, found Bodabathula Suresh’s decomposed body on the outskirts of Koppigondapalem village of Rambilli Mandal.

Police suspect that the accused consumed poison to kill himself. His body was shifted to the government hospital, Anakapalle for autopsy.

Suresh (26) had fatally stabbed a 14-year-old minor girl, studying in Class 9, in Koppigondapalem village on July 6.

Police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to those who provide information about the absconding accused.

Hailing from Koppungundupalem in Rambilli mandal, Suresh was working as a driver.

The accused used to stalk the minor girl and wanted to marry her when she came of age. However, the girl’s parents had rejected his proposal. As she continued to harass the girl, her parents had lodged a complaint with the police in April.

Suresh was arrested and sent to jail under relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. After coming out on bail a few weeks ago, he decided to take revenge on the victim, holding her responsible for his imprisonment.

On July 6 when the victim’s parents were out on work, Suresh barged into her house and slit her throat.

After committing the crime, he went into hiding. Police had constituted 12 teams to nab him.

Suresh had reportedly left behind a note stating that he will either live or die with the girl.

Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairman Kesali Apparao and Mahila Commission member Geddam Uma visited the girl’s village and inquired about the incident.

They underscored the need for police to keep a tab on persons arrested in POCSO and drug trafficking cases, and later released on bail.

YSR Congress Party Mahila Wing president and MLC Varudu Kalyani has criticised the State government for failing to nab the accused.

–IANS

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Jammu, July 11 (IANS) Despite rain in the holy cave shrine area, over 19,000 devotees had ‘darshan’ on the 12th day of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra while another batch of 4,885 pilgrims left for Kashmir from here on Thursday.

Braving rain and chanting slogans of ‘Bum Bum Bhole’, 19,631 Yatris had ‘darshan’ on Wednesday inside the holy cave shrine situated 3,888 metres above the sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas.

Wednesday’s group of devotees had pilgrims in both camps — the South Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp and the North Kashmir Baltal base camp.

Locals are lending a vital helping hand to the Yatris by providing ponies, porters, guides and even some carrying the elderly Yatris on their backs over the treacherous mountain track that becomes highly slippery during rain.

Authorities have deployed security personnel on both the 48 km-long Pahalgam and the 14 km-long Baltal-Cave shrine axis.

Around 150 ‘langars’ (community kitchens) run by over 7,000 volunteers work round the clock to serve fresh, healthy food to the Yatris.

Community kitchens have also been set up at the transit camps of Manigam in North Kashmir Ganderbal district and Mir Bazaar in South Kashmir Anantnag district.

Officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) headed by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha manage the affairs of the annual Yatra.

In the 12 days since it started, over 2.50 lakh devotees have performed the Yatra.

Out of the 4,885 pilgrims that left for Kashmir on Thursday, a total of 1,894 pilgrims in 86 vehicles left at 3.05 a.m. while the second escorted convoy carrying 2,991 Yatris in 105 vehicles left at 3.52 a.m.

The first convoy is going to the Baltal base camp while the second convoy is going to the Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp.

Pilgrims use the nearly 300 km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway to reach the Valley.

Given the unobstructed passage provided by massive security arrangements, both pilgrim convoys reach the Valley by early afternoon each day.

No pilgrim movement is allowed from the transit camps towards the two base camps after 5 p.m. each day for the safety of the Yatris.

Since it started on June 29, Amarnath Yatra 2024 has been proceeding safely and peacefully.

The 52-day long Yatra will end on August 29 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) In its latest affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Union government said that the data analysis conducted by IIT Madras shows that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted, leading to abnormal scores in the National Eligibility Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination held on May 5 this year.

“There is an overall increase in the marks obtained by students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720. This increase is seen across cities and centres. This is attributed to 25 per cent reduction in syllabus,” said the Union government, adding that candidates obtaining such high marks are spread across multiple cities and multiple centres, indicating a very “less likelihood of malpractice”.

After a comprehensive data analysis using parameters like marks distribution, city-wise and centre-wise rank distribution, and candidates spread over the marks range, experts of the IIT Madras opined “no abnormality,” the affidavit said.

The Union Education Ministry said that it is duty bound to address the concerns of the students who have appeared in the NEET exam and is making all-round efforts to devise a solution-oriented mechanism while ensuring that, on the one hand, no candidate guilty of malpractice gets any benefit and, on the other hand, 23 lakh students are not required to be burdened with a fresh test merely based upon unsupported apprehensions.

It said that the Union government has established a high-level committee of experts to recommend effective measures for the conduct of transparent, smooth, and fair examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The seven-member committee is headed by K. Radhakrishnan, former ISRO Chairman, and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur.

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday a batch of pleas alleging irregularities in conduct of the NEET-UG examination 2024.

To decide if a re-test should be ordered in its entirety, a bench presided over by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, in an earlier hearing held on Monday, directed NTA to make full disclosure before the apex court regarding the nature of the paper leak, the places where the leak took place, and the lag of time between the occurrence of the leak and the conduct of the examination.

It also asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a status report indicating the status of the investigation and the material collected during the course of the investigation.

–IANS

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Lucknow, July 11 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, for the first time, has taken to sowing seed balls for the climatic and geographical conditions in Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions, forest officials said.

The technique has a high-generation probability if done scientifically, officials added.

The sowing of seed balls has already started in forest blocks identified in the Jhansi forest division.

Some seven to eight lakh seed balls will be sown in seven forest divisions of the Bundelkhand region during the monsoon.

A seed ball is a 30 gm ball of soil and compost carrying at least six seeds of locally grown trees within it. As many as 42 local species have been identified for preparation of seed balls.

Two foremost requirements for high germination of seed balls are, higher and longer retention of moisture in soil at places where the seed balls are sown and seed balls having enough nutrition to last them through the longer period of germination, officials said.

Because Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions have hard soil and roots take time to penetrate deep, high nutrition in the balls will last the seed and the adventitious roots (small roots branching out) till the tap root (main root) develops.

While sowing, at least 85 per cent of the seed ball must be inside the soil to allow germination.

Similarly, while making the seed balls, it has to be ensured that it is dried fully; otherwise, the seed will germinate, even if it has the least amount of moisture in it or get fungus, before it is sown.

The least liquid content, water and ‘jeevamrut’, must be used in binding so that the seed balls dry up quickly.

To soak in the moisture from the mud and compost, rice husk is also used.

The department has trained people to make and sow the material, officials said.

In Vindhya region, surface run-off of water is high, because of which water retention in the soil is less and productivity of soil is also affected.

Because the water run-off rate is higher and the temperature is high, the soil is hard in the region.

The problem of stray cattle may compound it further by grazing on the vegetation on the ground, leaving no mulch.

The seed balls that germinate need to be protected from stray cattle.

“We have seeds from three species, two each, in the ball. This will help us raise multiple species at the same place if we provide them care,” said additional principal chief conservator of forest, Bundelkhand, K.K. Singh.

–IANS

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