US Consulate General to host ‘Study in the US’ fair in Bengaluru on Aug 18

Mangaluru: Starting April 22, 2025, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will strictly enforce separate disposal of sanitary waste, along with existing waste segregation norms. This decision was formally announced by MCC Commissioner Ravichandra Naik on Tuesday (April 15) during a training session at the Town Hall for civic workers.

What’s Changing?
All households and establishments must now segregate waste into the following four categories:
 
Categories of Waste (Effective April 22)
1.    Wet Waste
– Food scraps, vegetable peels, garden waste, etc.

2.    Dry Waste
– Paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, glass, metal, etc.

3.    Sanitary Waste (Now mandatory to separate)
– Sanitary pads, baby napkins, adult diapers, medical dressings, etc.

4.    Rejected Waste / Non-Recyclables
– Broken glass, ceramics, unusable plastics, thermocol, etc.

Rules and Penalties
•    Sanitary waste must be placed in a separate bin and must not be mixed with any other waste.
•    Violators will be fined ₹500 for the first offense, with higher fines for repeat violations.
•    Mixing plastic items like tubs and bottles with wet waste will also attract penalties.
“Improper segregation is a serious issue. MCC areas generate 5 to 10 tonnes of sanitary waste daily,” said Commissioner Naik.

MCC’s Awareness Campaign
To help the public understand the new system:
•    MCC will distribute pamphlets and notices this week.
•    These materials will explain the four waste categories and penalty clauses in detail.

QR Code Monitoring Returns
The MCC is also relaunching its QR code-based tracking system to monitor waste collection and staff attendance.

How it works:
•    QR codes are installed at buildings.
•    Civic workers will scan them using a new mobile app.
•    The app will send real-time updates to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC).

Current Status:
•    MCC manages 2.37 lakh properties.
•    90,000 properties in 60 wards already have QR codes installed.
“The new system will help us track both garbage pickup and civic worker attendance more accurately,” said Naik.

Mangaluru, Apr 7: A price storm is brewing in Mangaluru’s hotel and restaurant industry. Faced with skyrocketing raw material costs and mounting overheads, hoteliers are preparing to hike food prices by up to 10% within a month — a move that could hit the pockets of thousands of diners across Dakshina Kannada.

From milk and oil to LPG and staples like rice and toor dal, prices have surged, pushing both vegetarian and non-vegetarian establishments to the brink. Over 65% of hotels operate in rented spaces, and labour shortages are adding fuel to the fire.

Swarna Sunder of Dinki Dine says running a hotel without burdening customers is becoming near-impossible. “Costs are rising daily. We’re trying to strike a balance, but a hike is inevitable,” he said, calling Mangaluru a highly price-sensitive market.

Industry leaders, including the Dakshina Kannada Hotel Owners Association, are expected to meet soon to formalize the revision.

Meanwhile, hoteliers blame "unhealthy competition" for further disrupting the sector. “Some serve unlimited fish meals under ₹60 — it’s unsustainable and unfair,” said a hotelier, adding that such practices are forcing smaller eateries to shut shop.

Chandrahas Shetty, president of the district association, confirmed that rising input costs have left them with little choice but to revise menus.

New Israeli strikes have killed over a dozen people, including seven children, in the besieged territory as the regime is pressing ahead with its bloody military onslaught against Palestinians.

Gaza's civil defense agency said the bodies of 10 people, including seven children, were brought to the hospital following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the al-Farra family home in central Khan Younis.

Witnesses reported continuous and intensive Israeli tank fire in the city. 

Moreover, one Palestinian was killed and four others were wounded following an aerial attack on a group of civilians in Rafah.

In central Gaza, Israeli drones struck a group of civilians in Deir el-Balah, following which a number of casualties were transferred to the al-Aqsa Hospital.

Two more people killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a group of civilians in the al-Atatra area in the northern city of Beit Lahia.

On Friday morning, the Israeli military released an “urgent and serious” evacuation notice for residents living in various neighborhoods east of Gaza City.

The United Nations on Friday said its analysis of 36 recent Israeli strikes in Gaza showed only women and children were killed and decried the human cost of the war.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani cited an April 6 strike on a residential building of the Abu Issa family in Deir al-Balah, which reportedly killed one girl, four women, and one four-year-old boy.

Even the areas where Palestinians were being instructed to go in the expanding number of Israeli "evacuation orders" were also being subjected to attacks, she said.

Israel has said its troops are seizing "large areas" in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants.

The UN rights office warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders are resulting in the "forcible transfer" of people into ever-shrinking spaces in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"Let us be clear, these so-called evacuation orders are actually displacement orders, leading to displacement of the population of Gaza into ever shrinking spaces," Shamdasani said.

"The permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territories amounts to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and it is a crime against humanity."

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Shamsadani said between March 18 and April 9, there were some 224 incidents of Israeli strikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people.

"In some 36 strikes about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children," she said.

"Overall, a large percentage of fatalities are children and women, according to information recorded by our Office," she added.