Karnataka govt to provide additional 5 kgs of rice under Anna Bhagya scheme from Feb
Bengaluru, Feb 19 (PTI): The Karnataka government will begin providing an additional five kilograms of rice from February under the pre-poll Anna Bhagya guarantee, State Minister K H Muniyappa said on Wednesday.
The Congress government had promised to provide 10 kgs of rice every month to each member of families falling below the poverty line (BPL). This includes 5 kgs of rice supplied by the Centre under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
However, due to an inadequate supply of food grains, the state government had been transferring Rs 170 to beneficiaries' bank accounts in place of the additional rice, a practice that continued until January, according to the minister.
The Congress government had accused the Centre of attempting to sabotage the Anna Bhagya scheme by withholding rice, despite sufficient stocks being available in Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses.
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"From February, we will provide 5 kgs of rice per beneficiary every month instead of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)," Muniyappa told reporters.
The minister stated that the state government would require 2.1 lakh tonne of rice each month, costing Rs 536.71 crore.
"We will procure rice from the FCI at Rs 22.5 per kg. We have discussed this with Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pralhad Joshi," Muniyappa said.
He added that Joshi had assured him that the Centre would supply rice consistently for the next two years.
According to Muniyappa, the Centre procures rice from various states at Rs 40 per kg, which includes transportation costs.
With the Centre agreeing to provide rice at Rs 22.5 per kg, the state government will save Rs 150 crore to Rs 190 crore, he said.
Anna Bhagya scheme was one of the five key poll promises made by the Congress ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections in May 2023.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
