Siddaramaiah announces Rs 50 lakh cash prize for Rohan Bopanna
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday congratulated ace tennis player Rohan Bopanna for winning the men's doubles Australian Open title and announced a prize of Rs 50 lakh.
He felicitated Bopanna in the presence of his family.
Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge, Minister Shivraj Thangadagi and others were also present.
Taking to the social media platform 'X', Siddaramaiah said, "Met and congratulated Rohan Bopanna, who won the men's doubles title of Australian Open tennis tournament and announced a prize of Rs 50 lakh."
Bopanna became only the third Indian to win a men's doubles Grand Slam title, taking the Australian Open crown with partner Matthew Ebden after a commanding win over Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the final held recently.
Only the iconic Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have won major titles for India in men's tennis, while trailblazer Sania Mirza did it in women's tennis.
It was Bopanna's second Grand Slam title, having won the French Open mixed doubles trophy with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski in 2017.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
