Arkula: Bus proceeding from Puttur to Mangaluru topples; 16 injured
Bantwal: A bus collided with a car following a tyre burst and turned upside down near Adyar-Arkula national highway on Wednesday morning.
The driver of a private bus lost control over the vehicle following a tyre burst and collided with a car before turning turtle when the bus reached near Arkula. Since the bus toppled on the car, three passengers travelling in the four-wheeler sustained severe injuries. Several passengers travelling in the bus too reportedly injured in the incident.
The car, as well as the bus, have been damaged in the incident. The traffic movement was affected for some time on the highway as a large number of people gathered on the spot.
While a few injured persons have been rushed to local hospitals, several others have been admitted to various hospitals in Mangaluru.
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Karnataka new excise policy: Local liquor to get costlier, premium may get cheaper
Bengaluru: The state government on Monday rolled out a new excise policy that shifts from the decades-old bulk litre-based system to a model based on alcohol content in beverages, Deccan Herald reported.
Karnataka becomes the first state in India to adopt this model. The change is expected to make lower-priced liquor costlier, while some premium brands may see a reduction in prices.
A senior Excise Department official said: “The policy is being implemented from today (May 11). The Karnataka Excise (Excise Duty and Charges) (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified after a public consultation on a draft released on April 18, slashes the number of excise slabs from 16 to 8.”
Local liquor manufacturers have alleged that the policy favours multinational companies producing beer and spirits over domestic distilleries.
According to the Karnataka Brewers and Distillers Association (KBDA), the first five slabs, which cater to the common man, house the maximum number of state-owned distilleries and contribute nearly 70-75% of the state’s excise revenue, have seen their Additional Excise Duty (AED) rise by 20-30%.
In contrast, slabs 6 to 8, which include products from multinational companies such as United Spirits, Bacardi, Heineken, Carlsberg, and Anheuser-Busch, have seen AED reduced by 10-15%. The association said that while larger companies can absorb pricing shifts across their diverse portfolios, smaller regional distilleries limited to budget liquor may face volume contraction and potential closure.
A senior KBDA member said the price of a 180 ml bottle in the lowest slab, which was around Rs 63 last year, has already risen to Rs 80, and the new policy is set to push that price further to Rs 105 a jump driven by a 42.8% tax bracket.
