Beware! Illegal crowd-funding in Saudi Arabia may land you in serious trouble

Bengaluru, Mar 15: Days after the Election Commission of India raised concerns about politicians offering freebies to lure voters ahead of Assembly polls in Karnataka, officials from the Income Tax department on Tuesday raided the residence and office of former minister and BJP MLC R Shankar in Ranebennur in the state's Haveri district.

During the raid, the officials seized saree boxes, plates, glasses and school bags reportedly meant to be distributed among voters in the constituency.

The IT team has asked the Assistant Commissioner, Haveri, to check the bills of the items seized.and submit a report to the state government.

The IT raid did not go down well with MLC Shankar. Though he claimed he was cooperative with the officials, Shankar also alleged that the raid was conducted "at the behest of someone". The Model Code of Conduct has not been announced so far and this raid has no meaning, he said.

"I had pledged for the development of the constituency and will be committed to it. Such raids cannot deter me (sic)," said an annoyed Shankar.

The MLC further said that he had purchased all the materials after paying the requisite GST and there were no irregularities. All the bills have been documented and will be shown to officials, he said.

This is not the first time that the MLC has found himself in trouble for distributing goods in the election season - just last month, Shankar was caught distributing pressure cookers in Ranebennur's Medleri and Tumminakatti areas.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah, the former state Chief Minister and the current Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, alleged that Shankar had received money to change his political loyalty to the BJP. Reacting to these accusations, Shankar said that he will quit politics if the charges are proven.

The IT raid was not received well by Shankar's supporters either. They claimed that Shankar had been distributing essential goods to Ranebennur's people since 2012. Since he played "a big role" in making Basavaraj Bommai the chief minister, such targeted raids would spell trouble for BJP in the next election, Shankar's supporters warned.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that the BJP had no role to play in the tax department's raid. "Agencies are given a free hand, and there is no need for the BJP to raid anybody. Let him cooperate if he has done nothing wrong" Bommai said.

Yoga guru Swami Ramdev once again targeted the allopathic system of medicine, saying that there is no cure for diseases like cancer, hypertension and diabetes in allopathy, whereas through Ayurveda they can be eradicated from the root.

Ramdev made the remark while addressing the closing session of the International Ayurveda Conclave-2023 organised under the joint aegis of Uttarakhand Ayurved University and Deendayal Kamdhenu Gaushala Samiti on Sunday.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj, and vice chancellor of Ayurveda University Sunil Joshi also attended the programme.

Noting the importance and medical properties of cow's milk, Ramdev said it increases the body's immunity.

It “cures” many diseases naturally, he said, adding people around the world have it.

Ramdev claimed that diseases like cancer have been cured by the combination of cow urine extract and Ayurvedic medicines in his institute.

While addressing the students of Ayurveda, the Yoga guru said that there is no cure for diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer in allopaths whereas Ayurveda has remedies for all these illnesses.

The Yoga guru has been in controversy with Ramdev in the past for making such statements against allopathic medicine.

Damascus, Mar 22: An Israeli airstrike early Wednesday targeted the international airport of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, causing material damage in the second attack on the facility this month, state media report.

State news agency SANA, quoting an unnamed military official, did not mention if the strike caused any deaths or injuries. It said warplanes fired the missiles toward Aleppo, Syria's largest city and once commercial centre, while flying over the Mediterranean.

The airport has been one of the main channels for the flow of aid into the country after the February 6 earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria, killing over 50,000 people, including more than 6,000 in Syria.

On March 7, an Israeli airstrike put the airport out of service for several days and flights were rerouted to two other airports in the war-torn country until the damage was fixed.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

Israel has targeted airports and seaports in the government-held parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Lebanon's Hezbollah.