Activists in DK, Udupi to hold meeting to discuss future plans as NHAI hikes toll fee at Hejamadi from Dec 1

Mangaluru/ Bengaluru, Apr 2: Karnataka’s coastal belt some of the neighbouring areas will celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on April 10, while rest of the state will witness the festival on April 11 due confusion over moon sighting. 

Muslim religious heads in twin coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi on the night of April 9 declared the end of Ramadan and beginning of Shawwal following reports of sighting of crescent moon. 

With this Eid will be celebrated on April 10 in the above region. Similarly, Muslims in Bhatkal and neighbouring state of Kerala too will celebrate the festival on April 10. 

However, Muslims in other parts of Karnataka will continue to fast on April 10 and celebrate the Eid on the following day due to non-sighting of moon in their region. 

The Karnataka Moon Sighting Committee chairman Moulana Maqsood Imran formally announced that the Eid-ul-Fitr in Bengaluru and areas of Karnataka will be celebrated on Thursday April 11. 

New Delhi:  Twenty-nine Maoists, including a senior rebel leader - Shankar Rao, who had a bounty of ₹ 25 lakh on his head - were killed by security forces during an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Tuesday afternoon. A huge quantity of weapons, including Ak-47 and INSAS rifles, were recovered. 

Three security personnel were injured in the gunfight, which took place in forests near the village of Binagunda after a joint team of District Reserve Guard and Border Security Force were attacked.

Two of the three injured are from the BSF. Their condition is stable but the third - from the DRG - is in critical care. All three received treatment at a local hospital and are to be shifted to a larger facility.

Sources said the fighting began at around 2 PM, when a joint DRG-BSF team was conducting an anti-Maoist operation. The DRG was set up in in 2008 to combat Maoist activities in the state, and the Border Security Force has been deployed extensively in the area to for counter-insurgency ops.

There was another encounter in the district last month, in which two people - a Maoist and a cop - were killed, and security forces recovered a gun, some explosives, and other incriminating materials.

Personnel from the DRG and Bastar Fighters, both units of the state police force, with the Border Security Force, were involved in that operation, officials told news agency PTI. The patrolling team was cordoning off a forested area when fired on indiscriminately, leading to the gun battle.

In November last year, while the state was voting in the first phase of an Assembly election, a gunfight broke out between security forces and Maoist rebels in the same district.

An Ak-47 rifle was recovered from the encounter site.

On the same day, while polling was taking place, Maoists fired at DRG personnel deployed near a polling station in Banda in Dantewada district.

Bengaluru, Apr 11: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the party's unit in Karnataka have highlighted the statement of Class 12 Board exam topper from the state, Vedant Navi, and claimed that "it was a matter of pride as their schemes were bringing effective social and economic changes".

The Congress on Thursday launched a social media campaign by releasing posters and short videos.

Rahul Gandhi in his social media post said, “Such 'Success Stories' make me believe and ensure that our 'Mahalakshmi' guarantee of putting Rs 1 lac every year in women's accounts will prove to be a revolutionary step to shaping the country's fate.”

“Congress's Gruha Lakshmi scheme going on in Karnataka under which more than 1 crore women get Rs 2,000 every month, using the same money a mother taught her son Vedant and he got second rank in the whole state in PUC exam,” Rahul Gandhi stated.

“Vedant's story is a living example of Indian women's penance and willpower to strengthen the house with pai-pai. Imagine, when women of poor families across the country will get Rs 1 lakh every year through the 'Mahalakshmi Yojana', how many Vedantas will change the future of the family with their talent? This historic plan of Congress will give the dreams of poor families a flight into reality,” Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress in Karnataka said the schemes of the government were giving succour to the people. “It is a matter of pride that in a span of 10 months, our government’s schemes are bringing effective social and economic changes,” the party claimed.

“It is a testimony to the success of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme that the family of Vedant, who secured first rank in the Arts stream, was supported by the money provided by the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. Our schemes have brought changes in many people’s lives. The Congress party has built the lives of the people and thereby built the nation,” the Congress stated.

Vedant Navi had secured first rank in Arts Stream in Karnataka. He is the overall second-topper.

“My father is no more. My mother faced difficulties as the family was debt-ridden. In this crunch time, the money received through the Gruha Lakshmi scheme (Rs 2,000 every month given for women heads of family) helped my studies and hostel stay and other expenditures,” Vedant had stated.