Four PFI leaders in Mangaluru detained by NIA, post-raid
Surathkal: Four leaders of the Popular Front of India (PFI) were detained by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Mangaluru on Thursday morning.
NIA personnel have detained PFI leaders Nawaz of Kavoor, A K Ashraf of Bajpe Jokatte, Moideen of Haleyangadi and Ashraf of Kankanady. While Nawaz, A K Ashraf and Moideen were detained on the spot, Ashraf of Kankanady, who had gone to New Delhi, was detained at the national capital, said the sources.
The detention followed a raid by the NIA on the homes and offices of the PFI leaders in Kankanady, Haleyangadi, Jokatte and Kavoor in Mangaluru and on the offices of the SDPI leaders. The NIA conducted the raids simultaneously at around 3:30 am on Thursday.
In addition, the offices of both PFI and SDPI leaders situated near Nellikai Road in the State Bank area of Mangaluru were raided by the NIA personnel.
The agency personnel also confiscated the mobile phones of all the residents of the houses for further investigation. The NIA raided and searched the house of Moideen’s mother also on the occasion, it is learned.
SDPI district president Abubakar Kulai, who spoke to reporters, said, “The NIA has given no clear reason for the raid on the SDPI offices. The personnel have conducted an unaccountable search at our offices. When asked for the grounds for the raid on the SDPI offices, the personnel have merely justified that it is a raid on a PFI office.”
The president expressed further dissatisfaction on the confiscation of materials. “The NIA personnel have taken away the SDPI office building rent agreement document, our laptops as well as some photographs related to our organization rather than confiscating any official record,” he added.
“In addition to an unauthorized raid on our offices, the NIA staff members have destroyed work materials here. We will fight it out in court,” Kulai stated.
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Karnataka village switches off TVs, mobiles for two hours daily to help students study
Belagavi: Every evening at 7 pm, a siren rings out in Halaga, a village near Belagavi, signalling residents to switch off all screens including televisions, mobile phones, laptops and tablets for the next two hours.
The community has voluntarily adopted this “digital-free time” to help students focus on studies and to encourage families to spend more time talking to each other. The 'digital detox' initiative, 'No TV, no mobile, just study and conversation', is said to be the first such to be adopted by a Karnataka village, Deccan Herald reported on Monday.
According to the report, Halaga, which has a population of about 12,000 and is located close to the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, launched the initiative on December 17. A siren installed at the gram panchayat office marks the start of the no-screen period at 7 pm, and another siren at 9 pm signals its end.
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Gram panchayat authorities are reaching out to those residents who are yet to comply and are urging them to stay away from screen during the two hours.
Authorities are also visiting households that have not fully adopted the practice and are encouraging parents to follow the routine strictly. Teachers and panchayat members plan to continue meeting families to ensure more participation.
The Halaga village exercise is said to be inspired by a similar experiment in Agran Dhulgaon near Sangli in Maharashtra which had a positive response on students' learning habits.
