One-time settlement for property tax in Bengaluru till July 31: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also in-charge for Bengaluru Development on Tuesday said the 'One Time Settlement' window for payment of outstanding property tax in the city is open only till July 31.
"The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) had not actively pursued property tax outstanding due to elections. The one-time settlement (OTS) scheme will end on July 31 and hence I urge people to make use of the opportunity to clear the outstanding payments. The OTS scheme provides 50 per cent concession on penalties and 100 per cent concession on interest payments," Shivakumar said.
"More than 50,000 people have paid taxes under the OTS scheme and another 4 lakh are yet to pay. They will be deemed defaulters from August 1," he said.
Noting that twenty lakh properties are within the tax bracket, he said, "If those outside the tax bracket pay taxes and submit proof within 90 days, we will provide them with a property tax account."
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The process of digitising 20 lakh properties is in progress, Shivakumar said, adding about 8 lakh properties are completed and the rest would be completed within 3 months. "Once the process is complete, the digital records will be sent to property owners."
Pointing out that the BBMP has banned flex banners, and yet they were being used extensively by various organisations including political parties, he said, action will be taken against Assistant Revenue Officers in case of non-compliance.
"The public can lodge their complaints regarding unauthorised flex banners on the BBMP helpline...," he added.
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Death toll in attack on Kyiv apartment building now stands at 24
Kyiv (AP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Russian missile attack on a Kyiv apartment building the previous day killed 24 people, including what local officials said were three teenagers.
Emergency workers finished digging through the building's rubble after more than a day, Zelenskyy said on X.
The cruise missile hit the nine-story corner block during what the Ukrainian air force said was Russia's biggest barrage of the country since its all-out invasion.
The assault mostly targeted the Ukrainian capital, where 48 people were wounded, including two children, Zelenskyy said.
Russia hammered Ukraine with large-scale aerial attacks in the days following a May 9-11 ceasefire that US President Donald Trump said he asked Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe. Fighting went on over those 72 hours, although reportedly on a lesser scale.
This week's attacks ran counter to recent suggestions from Trump and Putin that the war, now in its fifth year, is close to ending.
Zelenskyy said Thursday that Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centres since Wednesday. In all, some 180 sites across the country were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings, he said.
Previously, the biggest Russian drone attack was from the evening of March 23 to the evening of March 24 when Moscow's forces fired nearly 1,000 drones and missiles at Ukraine.
Ukraine has also built up significant long-range capabilities, and Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday that air defences downed 355 drones overnight in one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war.
Several airports suspended flights overnight because of the attacks.
Also, a Ukrainian drone attack on Ryazan, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, killed four people, including a child, Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said.
After the attack, massive plumes of black smoke spewed from a fire at a local oil refinery. Ukraine has targeted Russian oil facilities in an effort to deny vital export revenue for Moscow and rattle the Kremlin.
Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment about the Ryazan strike.
The Ukrainian capital observed an official day of mourning Friday in remembrance of those killed Thursday, and Zelenskyy visited the site.
The cruise missile that hit the apartment building was built in the second quarter of this year, Zelenskyy said, apparently after Ukrainian experts analyzed the wreckage.
“This means Russia is still importing the components, resources and equipment necessary for missile production in circumvention of global sanctions,” Zelenskyy said in another post on X late Thursday.
“Stopping Russia's sanctions evasion schemes must be a genuine priority for all our partners,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine have continued to occasionally swap prisoners of war, and 205 from each country returned home Friday.
Zelenskyy said it was the first phase of a planned 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap. Some of the Ukrainians released had been held in Russian captivity since 2022, he said, and had fought in some of the war's fiercest battles.
Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed the exchange and thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping broker it.
