MP: 26.11 carat diamond fetches Rs 1.62 crore in auction
Panna, Feb 27: A 26.11 carat diamond found recently by a brick kiln operator in Panna was sold for Rs 1.62 crore, while 87 other rough diamonds fetched a total of Rs 1.89 crore during an auction held here in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Sunday.
The auction was conducted on February 24 and 25 in MP's 'diamond city' Panna, located 380 km from the state capital Bhopal.
On the first day, 36 diamonds collectively weighing 82.45 carats were sold for Rs 1.65 crore, Panna district collector Sanjay Kumar Mishra said.
Besides, 52 diamonds weighing 78.35 carats fetched Rs 1.86 crore on the second day.
During the auction, the highest price of Rs 1.62 crore was fetched by a 26.11 carat diamond, which was found in a mine here on February 21, the official said.
The auction for this precious stone started from Rs 3 lakh per carat and went up to Rs 6.22 lakh per carat, he said, adding that such a big diamond was found in Panna after a long time.
A local trader bought this diamond, which was found by Sushil Shukla, who operates a small-scale brick kiln business, in a shallow mine located in Krishna Kalyanpur area.
The proceeds will be given to the miner after the deduction of government royalty and taxes.
Panna district has reserves estimated to be containing diamonds worth 12 lakh carats, according to officials.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
