Karnataka Assembly passes bills on salary hike for CM, lawmakers
Bengaluru, Mar 21 (PTI): The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Friday passed bills approving a salary hike for the Chief Minister, Ministers, and all legislators, which will cost the exchequer Rs 62 crore annually.
The Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowance (Amendment) Bill and the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2025 were passed amid chaos, without any discussion, as the opposition BJP protested against the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in public contracts and demanded a judicial probe into an alleged "honey-trap" attempt involving a minister.
As per the Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowance (Amendment) Bill, the Chief Minister’s monthly salary will increase from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, while ministers’ salaries will rise from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh.
The Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2025 raises the monthly salaries of MLAs and MLCs from Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000, while their pensions will increase from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000.
The monthly salary of the Assembly Speaker and Legislative Council Chairperson will also be revised from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh.
"There has been a considerable increase in the cost of living. The salaries and allowances of the CM, ministers, ministers of state, and deputy ministers have not been revised for a long time," the Minister's Salaries and Allowance (Amendment) Bill stated, adding that the proposed measure will lead to an additional recurring expenditure of approximately Rs 10 crore per year.
Similarly, citing the "considerable increase in the cost of living," the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill justified the hike in salaries and allowances of parliamentary functionaries and legislators, estimating an additional recurring expenditure of Rs 52 crore annually.
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Strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats kill 11 people, US military says
Washington (AP): The US military said Tuesday that it carried out strikes on three boats accused of smuggling drugs in Latin American waters, killing 11 people in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration's monthslong campaign.
The series of strikes conducted Monday brought the death toll to at least 145 people since the administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels since early September.
Like most of the military's statements on the 42 known strikes, US Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. It said two vessels carrying four people each were struck in the eastern Pacific Ocean, while a third boat with three people was hit in the Caribbean Sea.
The military did not provide evidence that the vessels were ferrying drugs but posted videos that showed boats being destroyed.
President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”
