BBMP wades into row by dropping Mercy Angels from Kempegowda Award list
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Bengaluru: Honouring Dr Taha Mateen of 'Mercy Angels' with Kempegowda Award in recognition of the efforts to ensure dignified last rites for persons who died from Covid-19, the BBMP has blundered by removing him from the list of awardees.
Mercy Angels volunteers were instrumental in providing dignified burials for bodies of Covid-19 victims whose families did not come forward to conduct last rites.The BBMP presented 33 persons with the award and Dr Taha Mateen was among them. The list of awardees released to the media in the morning had Dr Mateen's name. But by evening, the name had disappeared.A row erupted after BBMP opposition leader Abdul Wajid took up the issue. "The mayor dropped Dr Mateen's name at the behest of the RSS," he said.
Mayor M Goutham Kumar, however, said there was a different reason. "The list of awardees I signed didn't have the name of Mercy Angels' Taha Mateen. As the Kempegowda Award can't be given to non-governmental organisations, the name was dropped," he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, who spoke after the award ceremony, said as per the practice, the BBMP has honoured achievers from various spheres. "This year, it was decided to honour people who involved themselves in different streams to fight COVID," he said.
Responding to the allegation that people with links to RSS were getting awards, he said, "There is no rule against awarding those in RSS. Whoever contributes to social welfare and those who achieve should be honoured. We have done that," he said.Meanwhile, the mayor said he would look into the claim that Nandidurga Balu Gowda was given the Award for the second time. "I didn't know about this. I will look into it," he said.
The list of achievers included Dr Aseema Banu, who had set up the dedicated Covid ward, Dr Meena Ganesh, Dr Naveen Benakappa and Dr Venkatesh Murthy for championing the cause of home isolation, Tasleem Arif Syed from the biotechnology field, Nitin Kamath and several others. The celebration, scheduled to be held last week, was deferred following the death of former President Pranab Mukherjee.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
