Bypassing Cabinet, tainted official floated Rs 3.5k-cr tender:?HDK

Bengaluru, Dec 15: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday charged that official S C Jayachandra, who is under the Enforcement Directorate scanner, had issued a tender notification for road works worth Rs 3,500 crore, without bringing it to the Cabinet's notice.

Addressing reporters here, Kumaraswamy charged that Jayachandra, chief project officer of the Karnataka State Highway Development Project, had in December 2015 very “systematically” called for the tender, neither taking the Finance department's approval nor bringing it to the Cabinet's notice.

He said Jayachandra, instead of floating taluk-wise tenders for the works, had clubbed four to five taluks together and issued the notification as a package. Not only did Jayachandra earn a huge commission through this, the state exchequer incurred an additional burden of Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore.

He said that the money found in Jayachandra's possession during I-T raids may have been the commission he got.

Kumaraswamy questioned the logic behind ordering an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) probe into the cash scam, when the CBI was already probing it. He said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah may have ordered the probe to extract information from ACB officials on the details given by Jayachandra to the CBI.

He said that Kempanna Commission had been constituted to cover up the denotification scam in Arkavathy Layout. Ideally, Siddaramaiah, along with three previous chief ministers, B S Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and himself (Kumaraswamy), should have been served notices for denotifying land, but it has not been done.

He clarified that K C Veerendra who was raided by the I-T sleuths for possessing a large amount of new currency notes was not from the JD(S).

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Mr. HDK, please don't shout rubbish for nothing. there is a saying in Kannada (kaiallagadava mayyanna parachida hange), If you got the guts, try and build a strong opposition without the help of BJP or other alliance. Please don't simply blame Mr. Siddu, you cant even bring any evidence against him, that everybody knows.

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Air India Express brings back Mangaluru–Muscat direct flights from March 2026

News Network

December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Air India Express has announced that it will resume direct flight services between Mangaluru and Muscat from March 2026, restoring an important international air link for passengers from the coastal region.

Airport authorities said the service will operate twice a week—on Sundays and Tuesdays—from March 1. The initial flights are scheduled on March 3, 8 and 10, followed by March 15 and 17, with the same operating pattern to continue thereafter. The flight duration is approximately three hours and 25 minutes.

The Mangaluru–Muscat route was earlier operated under the 2025 summer schedule, with services beginning on July 14. At that time, Air India Express had operated four flights a week before suspending the service.

Officials said the summer schedule will come into effect from March 29, after which changes in flight timings and departure schedules from Mangaluru are expected. Passengers have been advised to check the latest schedules while planning their travel.

The resumption of direct flights to Muscat is expected to significantly benefit expatriates, business travellers and others, further strengthening Mangaluru’s air connectivity with the Gulf region.

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