BBMP warns NGOs over illegal fundraising for lakes: Report
Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has issued a stern warning to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other private groups for allegedly engaging in fundraising activities for lake ‘development’ and related projects, asserting that there is a court stay in place against such collections.
The BBMP clarified that NGOs and associations reportedly raising funds for lake conservation and development are acting outside the law. A senior engineer, quoted by The New Indian Express, revealed that a well-known group in the Bengaluru South Parliament segment has been collecting funds by displaying a QR code for UPI payments aimed at lake development.
“The private association appointed guards who even prevented BBMP maintenance team and engineers during a visit. Since the lake is a municipal property, NGOs and private organisations which indulge in fund collection will be discouraged,” said a lake engineer.
These organisations, the engineer added, must enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the BBMP, agreeing not to engage in fundraising or any commercial activities related to the lakes.
A notice is reportedly issued a notice to one NGO, seeking clarification about its involvement in fund collection activities.
Development and Conservation Authority (KTDCA) has also weighed in on the matter and stated that it can also issue notices if it becomes aware of such fund collection activities.
“The KTDCA is very clear, until the matter gets resolved in terms of funds collection for waterbody development from the public from the court, collections are considered illegal. Our teams have been alerted and are cross-checking with NGOs and associations involved in lake management, if we find them involved in fund collection, we will cancel the permission given to them for lake development and other activities," TNIE quoted a senior KTDCA official as saying.
The KTDCA official also noted that the judge overseeing the case concerning the mobilisation of funds by a private organisation has been elevated to the Supreme Court, and as a result, the judgement remained as it is. A fresh hearing will be scheduled to address the issue.
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Bangladesh court sentences Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in corruption cases
Dhaka (PTI): A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in allocations of land in a government housing project.
Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 Judge Rabiul Alam handed down the verdicts, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment — five years in each case, state-run BSS news agency reported.
The court sentenced 78-year-old Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and her nieces, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and others in the cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol.
The judgment was pronounced at around 12.30 pm.
Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment — two years in each case — while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in both cases.
Rajuk member Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused to surrender before the court, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in each case, totalling two years.
The court also fined all convicted persons Tk1 lakh each and ordered them to serve an additional six months in prison in default of payment.
Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.
The cases were filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged abuse of power in the allocation of two 10-katha plots.
According to the prosecution, the accused manipulated the allocation process and violated existing rules and regulations of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
