Kannada film actor, director Rakshit Shetty casts vote in Udupi despite busy shooting schedule
He packed up shooting at 5.am on Thursday in Bengaluru and drove to Udupi to cast vote
Udupi: Prominent Actor and Director of Kannada film industry arrived in Udupi from Bengaluru on Thursday despite busy shooting schedule, to cast his vote for the first phase Lok Sabha election in the state.
Rakshit who was busy shooting for his movie ‘Avane Shri Mannarayana’ till late of April 17 night and in the wee hours of Thursday, packed up shooting at 5.am on Thursday and drove his car all the way from Bengaluru to Udupi to cast his vote.
He arrived in Udupi at around 1.pm and reached Kukkikatte Govt aided school polling station along with his family to franchise his vote.
Rakshit will now leave for Bengaluru tonight and will start shooting for the movie from Friday morning.
Speaking to media, Rakshit said “I finished shooting early in the morning and left for Udupi. I will go back tonight and start shooting tomorrow morning. Any party which comes to power should work towards developing the country”.
Speaking about the movie ‘Avane Shri Mannarayana’ he informed that the movie will be released in August this year in five languages.
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Karnataka to introduce new affordable housing policy with EWS mandate for private developers
Bengaluru: Karnataka is drafting a new Affordable Housing Policy that may require private real estate developers to allocate a portion of their projects for economically weaker sections (EWS). This initiative is part of preliminary discussions aimed at addressing the state’s housing challenges.
The policy is being developed by the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS), an urban-focused research organization co-founded by Nandan Nilekani and Deepak Parekh. IIHS was chosen for this task without a tender process.
Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan's office has confirmed that discussions are underway to include a clause mandating private developers to reserve inventory for EWS buyers. At present, residential layouts are only required to allocate spaces for civic amenities such as parks and playgrounds.
The policy is a key component of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's agenda for affordable housing. It aims to streamline procedures in the housing sector while ensuring inter-departmental coordination. It will replace the 2016 housing policy and is expected to help Karnataka secure additional funding from union government housing schemes.
Funding challenges have hindered the state's housing programs, such as the Chief Minister’s One Lakh Housing Scheme, where the per-unit cost of ₹11.2 lakh places a significant financial burden on beneficiaries. With banks reluctant to lend, the government faces an estimated ₹3,700 crore shortfall.
The state is evaluating two affordable housing models proposed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The first model, the Land Sharing Model, involves the government providing land to private developers, who would dedicate 30-50% of the land to affordable housing. Once the housing units are completed, they would be handed over to the government for distribution, while the developers would monetize the remaining land.
The second model, the Interest Subsidy Model, suggests offering a 3-5% subsidy on home loan interest, which would reduce monthly installments for beneficiaries from ₹8,700 to ₹5,500-6,800. This approach is expected to cost the government ₹60-170 crore annually.
