New Karnataka assembly's first session begins
Bengaluru, July 2 : The first session of Karnataka's newly-elected 15th assembly began here on Monday with Governor Vajubhai Vala addressing the joint session of the legislature in Hindi.
During the 10-day-long session, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who also holds the Finance portfolio, will present a full-fledged budget of the new coalition government for fiscal 2018-19 on July 5.
On the Governor's choice of language, an official told IANS that as he "is comfortable reading his speech in Hindi, he has been addressing in the assembly in the language since he assumed office in September 2014". The official language of the southern state is Kannada.
The legislators, however, were given Kannada and English versions of Vala's address as he began to read in Hindi.
However, for some legislators from central and northern regions who are acquainted with Hindi, a copy of Vala's address was also made available to them in the same language, while many of the remaining lawmakers preferred to go through the Kannada version, said the official.
Though the new assembly met twice during May for the floor test of the 3-day BJP government first on May 19 and the coalition government of the JD-S and Congress on May 25, they were adjourned on the same respective day.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
