Minister V Sunil Kumar flays move to collect combined toll at Hejamadi
Mangaluru, Dec 3: The move to collect the combined user fee at Hejamadi including the toll from the closed Surathkal toll plaza is unscientific, Karnataka Minister for Energy, Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar said on Saturday.
Addressing reporters in Udupi after a meeting of elected representatives and officials, he said efforts are being made to reverse the decision taken by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at the central level.
He said the shifting of the burden from one toll gate to another is unscientific. Discussions will be held with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also to find a solution to the issue, he said.
The meeting held today decided to suggest to the NHAI to exempt vehicles from Udupi district from paying additional toll by creating a separate lane for them, the minister said.
The meeting was attended online by Udupi district in-charge Minister S Angara. Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat, Kaup MLA Lalaji Mendon, Deputy Commissioner M Kurma Rao and District Superintendent of Police Akshay Machhindra were present.
The action committee against Surathkal toll gate, which had wound up its month-long agitation against toll collection earlier this week, will be joining the protest against increased toll collection at the Hejamadi toll gate.
With the closure of the Surathkal toll gate by Wednesday, NHAI has decided to collect the same toll collected at Surathkal from Hejamadi toll plaza in addition to the existing rates at the gate.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kasaragod: ED books Kunhahmed Musliyar Memorial Trust for FCRA violation
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has registered a forex violation case against a Kerala-based charitable organisation for receiving Rs 220 crore from abroad in alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The investigation pertains to Kunhahmed Musliyar Memorial Trust located in Kasargod and its chairman Ibrahim Ahmad Ali, an NRI.
Searches were conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) at two locations in Kasargod on Thursday in connection with the case, the ED said in a statement.
The Trust, according to the ED, received more than Rs 220 crore since 2021 from Ibrahim Ahmad Ali, which was reflected in the books of accounts as "unsecured" loans.
However, no loan agreement, interest rate terms, or repayment schedule were available, and no repayment had been made till date, the probe agency said.
The probe found that these funds were received by Ali from a UAE company named Universal Lubricants LLC.
In the absence of supporting documents and in view of the clarification given under a section of the FCRA, the said loan prima facie qualified as "foreign contribution" under FCRA, the statement said.
According to the ED, the Trust is "not registered" under the FCRA and does not possess the "mandatory permission" or a designated FCRA bank account to receive foreign contributions.
It was found that a part of these foreign contributions was "utilised" for the purchase of agricultural land in India, in violation of the existing regulations.
The search action found that the Trust received Rs 2.49 crore in "cash" from Ali in violation of FEMA provisions.
"During the search, incriminating documents, ledger accounts showing unsecured loans of Rs 220 crore, the cash book of the Trust, and a hard disk containing financial data were seized," the ED said.
_vb_79.jpeg)
