Rs 25 crore seed capital to be granted for Mangaluru industrial cluster: Karnataka IT Minister
Mangaluru, Dec 17: The Karnataka government will release a seed capital of Rs 25 crore for setting up an industrial cluster in the city, state Minister for IT, BT and Higher Education Ashwath Narayan said on Saturday.
The government will also establish a two-lakh square feet 'Mangaluru Innovation Hub' through Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation (KEONICS), aimed at encouraging industrial development of coastal districts, he said, addressing the Mangaluru Technovanza organised by the Mangaluru Cluster of Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM).
The minister said the innovation hub will be established in cooperation with Infosys and other companies, which will cater to the industrial development of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu districts.
Narayan praised the coastal region, especially Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, for being the cradle of banking. The region has a suitable, conducive and enterprising environment and the government is keen to develop the Mangaluru region as a fintech hub, he said.
He said the government is keen on establishing at least 50 fintech companies in the Mangaluru cluster. This will give a big boost to the government's plan to achieve USD 500 billion business turnover by 2030 from these companies, Narayan said.
"Just as Bengaluru city has become famous as India's Silicon Valley due to the IT/BT companies, Mangaluru should become Silicon Beach," he said.
Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with several companies and the minister inaugurated the Mangaluru office of payment gateway firm Cashfree.
State BJP president and local MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLA Vedavyasa Kamath, MLC Manjunath Bhandari were among those who attended the function.
IT/BT department additional chief secretary E V Ramana Reddy, industrialist Mohandas Pai, KDEM president B V Naidu, Start-Up Vision Group chairman Prashant Prakash and IT department director Dr Shivashankar were also present.
The minister later inaugurated the Mangalore University-affiliated college at Bannadka in Moodbidri in the presence of the varsity's vice chancellor Professor Subramanya Yadapadithaya.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
