CM Siddaramaiah seeks PM Modi's intervention for Bengal gram procurement
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately approve the procurement of Bengal gram (Chana) under the Price Support Scheme (PSS).
In his letter, the chief minister said he was writing in view of the deep distress for lakhs of Bengal gram growers in Karnataka, whose livelihoods are facing crisis due to prices ruling well below the MSP during the current Rabi marketing season.
He pointed out that Bengal gram is one of the principal pulse crops in the state, cultivated over 9.24 lakh hectares with an estimated production of 6.27 lakh metric tonne, sustaining farmers across districts, including Dharwad, Gadag, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari, Chitradurga, Bagalkote, Davanagere and Chikkamagaluru.
Despite the Centre declaring an MSP of Rs 5,875 per quintal for Bengal gram for the Rabi marketing season 2026-27, Siddaramaiah said the market prices in Karnataka were significantly below MSP, ranging between Rs 4,260 and Rs 5,813 per quintal.
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He noted that in several APMC markets, farmers were being forced to sell their produce from Rs 800 to Rs 1,200 below MSP, even before peak arrivals had begun.
"This price erosion is not merely a market aberration, it is a human crisis. When the declared MSP does not translate into real procurement on the ground, it erodes farmers' faith in the institutional framework meant to protect them," Siddaramaiah said in his letter addressed to PM Modi on 14 January, a copy of which released to the media on Thursday.
With harvest arrivals set to intensify between January and March, he cautioned that there was a genuine risk of further price collapse, aggravating rural distress.
Urging immediate intervention, Siddaramaiah called upon the Centre to approve procurement under the PSS and direct central nodal agencies.
"I urge the Government of India to immediately accord approval for procurement of Bengal gram under the Price Support Scheme and direct Central Nodal Agencies such as NAFED and NCCF to operationalise procurement centres in Karnataka without delay," he said.
The chief minister assured full cooperation from the state, stating that Karnataka had already issued necessary notifications, designated state agencies, and furnished all undertakings as per PSS guidelines.
He said the state was ready to facilitate farmer registration, warehousing, transportation and exemption of state levies to ensure smooth procurement.
"Procurement at MSP is not merely an administrative exercise, it is an affirmation of the nation's commitment to the dignity of its farmers," Siddaramaiah said.
He urged the Prime Minister to approve MSP procurement at the earliest to protect farmers from distress sales, stabilise markets and uphold the credibility of the MSP regime.
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Singer Zubeen Garg was drunk, had declined life jacket: Coroner’s court told in Singapore
Singapore (PTI): Popular Indian singer-songwriter Zubeen Garg was “severely intoxicated” and had drowned off Lazarus Island after declining a life jacket last September, a coroner's court in Singapore was told on Wednesday.
Garg, 52, was with a yacht party on September 19, 2025, when he died of drowning a day before he was slated to perform at the North East India Festival in Singapore.
The singer initially wore a life jacket but removed it and later declined to put on a second one offered to him, the chief investigating officer told the court in the opening of the inquiry, Channel News Asia reported.
At the time, Garg was also severely intoxicated and several witnesses saw him trying to swim back to the yacht when he went limp and began floating with his face in the water, the Channel said quoting the officer.
Garg was promptly rescued back to the yacht and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was administered to him, but he was pronounced dead later that same day.
The singer had a medical history of hypertension and epilepsy, with his last known epileptic episode in 2024, the court was told.
However, it is unclear if he had taken his regular medicine for epilepsy on the day of the incident, with the evidence of eyewitnesses insufficient to establish that he had actually taken it, it was added.
The Singapore police do not suspect any foul play in his death, according to the Channel report.
A total of 35 witnesses are slated for the inquiry, including witnesses on the yacht, the boat captain, police officers and paramedics.
The chief investigating officer in the case told the court that Garg and 20-odd people on the yacht, including his friends and colleagues, had some snacks, drinks and alcohol on the boat.
Several witnesses said they saw Garg drinking alcohol, with one witness saying he had consumed a few cups of liquor, gin and whisky, along with a few sips of Guinness Stout, the Channel said.
The investigating officer then described a step-by-step account of what happened that day and said, during the first swim, Garg removed his life jacket and later went back on the yacht and was heard saying that he was tired.
“When he decided to resume swimming, Garg was offered a second, smaller life jacket, but he declined to wear it. He entered the water without a life jacket and started swimming in the direction of Lazarus Island alone,” said the chief investigating officer.
The officer went on to describe the sequence of events in detail.
An autopsy performed on Garg determined the cause of death to be drowning. Some injuries were found on his body but they were found to have been sustained during CPR and rescue efforts, the Channel report said.
Medications for his hypertension and epilepsy were found in his blood, with no other drugs detected.
A toxicology analysis found that Garg had a blood alcohol concentration of 333 milligrams per 100ml of blood, which suggests severe intoxication resulting in impaired coordination and reflexes, the court was told.
For comparison, the legal limit in Singapore is 80 milligrams per 100ml of blood. The police also seized a 750ml bottle of Scotch whisky with 43 per cent alcohol from Garg's hotel room that was 25 per cent full.
One of the witnesses, whom the Channel did not name, spoke about Garg's erratic sleeping habits.
“The evidence of several witnesses, provided via their statements to the court, stated that Mr Garg had no suicidal tendencies and that he was not pushed into the water but had jumped in himself for a swim,” the Channel report said, quoting the court hearing.
The forensic pathologist, who conducted Garg's autopsy, testified that it could not be determined whether or not he had suffered a seizure, saying there were no signs such as a bitten tongue.
The captain of the yacht, which is called the Crazy Monkey, gave evidence that he saw two of Garg's friends holding onto his arms as he boarded as he was unable to walk properly.
The captain, who listened to proceedings via a Mandarin interpreter, also noticed, in his witness statement, that some of the passengers were already drinking alcohol before even boarding the yacht.
He also claimed that he had given two safety briefings, and that when he saw Garg entering waters without a life jacket the second time, he said, “I told his friend that he is drunk, and if he wants to get into the water, he needs to wear a life jacket.”
He also corroborated that most of the passengers, including Garg, were drinking shots.
His witness statements also included details such as when he saw Garg face down (in the waters), he quickly shouted at his friends before swimming to the singer himself.
When the captain turned Garg's head away from the water, he saw a lot of foam coming out from his mouth and nose with a “terrible” smell, the Channel said, quoting the captain.
Before the inquiry opened on Wednesday, Garg's uncle Manoj Kumar Borthakur read a statement he had prepared to the court, in which he raised several concerns the family had over the singer's death.
To several of his uncle's questions related to the sequence of events as it unfolded that day, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said some of the facts sought were not relevant to the circumstances that led to the death, according to the Channel report.
In India, a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the case, has charged festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer’s secretary Siddhartha Sharma and his two band members Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta with murder, and his cousin Sandipan Garg with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The singer's two personal security officers (PSOs), Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya, have been charged with criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust by misappropriating funds or property entrusted to them.
