Karnataka to borrow Rs 33,000 crore to cope with revenue loss
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday decided to borrow Rs 33,000 crore to cope with the revenue loss owing to COVID-19 pandemic situation and take up development works, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.
The state cabinet meeting decided to amend the Fiscal Responsibility Act to increase its borrowing limit from three per cent to the five per cent of the GSDP, utilising the provision proposed by the Centre, he said.
"The centre this year has increased the borrowing (limit) up to 5 per cent of GSDP due to COVID. Hence, we have decided to change the state Fiscal Responsibility Act to increase our borrowing from three per cent to five per cent," Madhuswamy told reporters.
"After the amendment, the state will be able to borrow Rs 36,000 crore. We have decided to borrow Rs 33,000 crore to start development works," which had been impacted due to severe revenue loss following the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
When asked why Karnataka went for borrowing when several other states were demanding that Centre should borrow and give it to the states, Madhuswamy said such demand was made at the GST Council meeting recently.
He said the state's demand for Rs 11,000 crore of its share on GST remains and it will not compromise on that.
Madhuswamy clarified that the two per cent increase in the borrowing was only a one-time measure that too in view of the COVID situation.
He conceded that the increased borrowing will be a burden on the state. "Because we are in such a situation that we are forced to borrow," he added.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
