1. I-T raid on contractor who had alleged 40% commission against previous BJP government
Income Tax (I-T) sleuths began search and seizure operations on October 12 against several prominent contractors in Karnataka. Sources said raids are on against at least five contractors. Of them, I-T sleuths are said to have recovered a huge cache of money from a flat associated with R. Ambikapathy, president of BBMP Contractors’ Association, and vice-president of Karnataka Contractors’ Association.
Sources said the money was stashed in over 20 cardboard boxes and kept under a bed in a flat, where the contractor did not live. Mr. Ambikapathy was a prominent face during a campaign by Karnataka Contractors’ Association alleging that kickback for the State Government’s contracts had touched an astronomical ‘40% commission’ under the previous BJP regime.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP has alleged that money unearthed during the I-T raid was the ‘commission amount’ collected by the Congress government from BBMP contractors for releasing their dues. It has demanded that both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar step down owning moral responsibility for the episode.
2. Shivamogga Police book case against K.S. Eshwarappa for provocative speech
Shivamogga Police have booked a suo motu case against former minister and BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa for his alleged provocative speech during a BJP protest meeting held in Shivamogga on October 12.
Mr. Eshwarappa, addressing the gathering, had said that if the Hindus had decided to take revenge for the murder of Hindutva activist Harsha, they could have cut off many heads. The case has been booked on charges of promoting enmity between different groups (153a of IPC) and causing intentional insults with the intent to provoke others to commit offences (504 of the IPC).
3. No takers for Kannada engineering courses for third year in row
It was with much fanfare that the previous BJP government in Karnataka opened up the option of Kannada medium in engineering courses — Civil and Mechanical — after introducing National Education Policy (NEP 2020) in higher education. But not a single student has opted for it so far.
This year, one student had opted for Kannada-medium Civil Engineering course at SJC Institute of Technology, Chikkaballapura, in the Common Entrance Test (CET-2023) counselling conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). Later, however, he withdrew and joined a English-medium course.
4. AI-based lung cancer screening in 19 district hospitals to benefit over 1.4 lakh patients
Starting next week, the Karnataka Health Department will start Artificial Intelligence (AI) based lung cancer screening for patients in 19 district hospitals. The screening technology that will be first deployed at K.C. General Hospital in Bengaluru is set to benefit 1.4 lakh patients annually.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding this was signed between the National Health Mission and AstraZeneca on October 12. Developed by Qure.ai, the AI-powered chest X-ray system will screen a patient for 29 lung diseases in one X-ray and help the government detect lung nodules, often precursors to lung cancer, overcoming a major early detection challenge.
