No decision yet on Rs 250 reward for sharing photos, videos of people dumping garbage, says BSWML
Bengaluru: Amid viral reports claiming that citizens in Bengaluru would receive Rs 250 for sharing photos or videos of people dumping garbage, the Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd. (BSWML) clarified that no such decision has been taken.
The clarification came after several media outlets reported that the BSWML and the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) were planning to introduce monetary rewards to encourage public participation in curbing littering.
In a statement cited by Deccan Herald, the BSWML said that while the idea of incentivising citizens for reporting offenders was discussed, it has not been finalised yet.
"At the moment, there is no plan of giving monetary rewards for citizens who complain about the habitual litterbugs," the newspaper quoted a senior official as saying.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar recently announced that CCTV cameras are being installed across the city to monitor garbage dumping. “The litterers are being identified and the garbage they dumped on the streets is being dumped back to their doorstep as a lesson. We are levying fines also on litterers,” he added.
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14 India-bound ships in Strait of Hormuz stopped by Iran; 1 hit by bullets, 1 crosses: Sources
New Delhi (PTI): A convoy of 14 India-bound ships carrying crude oil and gas were stopped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by firing at two of them while they were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, leading to 13 of the vessels returning to different locations in the Persian Gulf, official sources privy to the development said.
An Indian-flag carrying ship, which was hit by bullets fired by the IRGC while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, was carrying crude oil and a window pane was broken, forcing it to stop the journey and return. The extent of damage to the second vessel was not immediately known but it also had returned.
However, another ship, which was Indian flagged and loaded with crude oil for the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, sailed through the Strait and is now heading towards India, the sources said.
Two Iranian gunboats approached the targeted tanker and fired at it without warning. Gunboats approached the vessel 37 kilometres northeast of Oman, causing other vessels to return without completing the crossing, the sources said.
The incident was reported in waters between the Qeshm and Larak islands, they said.
Out of the 14 India-bound vessels, seven are carrying the Indian flag, four have the Liberia flag, two are of the Marshall Islands and one of Vietnam.
Six of them are loaded with crude oil, three have LPG and four are loaded with fertilisers. Among the ships, five are bulk carriers. All 14 vessels were sailing in a row.
Thirteen of them were stopped by the Iranian Navy and were instructed to wait. Out of the 13 stranded vessels, seven vessels are drifting south of Larak Island, waiting for clearance from the Iranian Navy, the sources said.
The Indian government is understood to have been coordinating with the Iranian authorities for the safe voyage of the stranded India-bound ships, they said.
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz reportedly escalated again on Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass. This came as the United States pressed ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports.
Confusion over the Strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes, threatened to deepen the energy crisis.
The ceasefire between Iran and the US is due to run out by mid-next week.
Iran's joint military command said Saturday that "control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces."
It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
