Mangaluru: Karnataka Bar Council Vice President and one of the most senior advocates of Mangaluru, M Seetharam Shetty passed away on Thursday due to breathing problem here in Mangaluru. He was 82.

Seetharam began his career as an junior lawyer of Kallige Mahabala Bhandary in Kasargod before moving back to Mangaluru to begin his own practice.

He has served as the special prosecutor of Karnataka Government in several cases. He was also a former president of Mangaluru Lawyers’ Association.

Seetharam was also the legal advisor of U T Farid, former MLA of Ullal and father of Ullal MLA U T Khader, he also served in this position to senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary. Moreover, U T Khader himself began his legal profession as a junior lawyer under Seetharam.

Seetharam was admitted in a private hospital in the city due to breathing problem and blood pressure issues on June 7. He passed away at the hospital on Thursday afternoon.

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

U T Khader and other senior leaders of Congress including Ramanath Rai, Janardhan Poojary condoled the death of Seetharam.

He will be cremated at Nandi Gudda on June 14, Friday afternoon between 1.pm-3.pm

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.

Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.

“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.

Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”

Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.

In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”

"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added. 

According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.