Sindhu, Srikanth advance to second round of Indonesia Masters
Jakarta (PTI): Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round of their respective events at the Indonesia Masters badminton tournament here on Wednesday.
While fifth seed Sindhu beat Manami Suizu of Japan 22-20 21-18 in a 53-minute women's singles match, Srikanth, currently ranked 33rd in the world, battled for one hour and 12 minutes to get the better of world No.22 Koki Watanabe 21-15 21-23 24-22.
Srikanth will next play fourth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, who defeated Nhat Nguyen of Ireland 21-14 21-15 in another first round match.
But Kiran George made a first round exit after losing 17-21 14-21 to Moh Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia.
In women's singles, Akarshi Kashyap too bowed out in the opening round, losing to Julie Dawall Jakobsen 21-8 20-22 17-21.
India's campaign ended in mixed doubles with the pairs of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde and Dhruv Kapila and Tanish Crasto exiting in the very first round.
While Kapoor and Gadde lost 9-21 20-22 to fourth seeds Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France, Kapila and Crasto were shown the door by another French pair of Julien Maio and Lea Palermo 23-21 20-22 6-21.
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Udupi: Woman, bank employee arrested in property tax fraud case
Udupi: Udupi City Police have arrested two persons, including a woman, in connection with the alleged misappropriation of property tax funds belonging to the Udupi Municipal Council.
The accused have been identified as Shalini, who was working as a tax consultant outside the municipal office, and Ganesh, a bank employee.
According to police, Anand Suvarna had paid Rs 34,730 towards 12 years of property tax for his building in Kalmadi to Shalini on October 16, 2025. She reportedly issued him a receipt acknowledging the payment.
However, when Suvarna recently checked the status of the payment on the property tax portal, he found that the amount had not been credited and was still shown as pending. He then brought the matter to the notice of the Municipal Commissioner, who verified that the payment had not been recorded.
During questioning, Shalini allegedly admitted to the lapse. On February 16, 2026, she generated a new challan in Suvarna’s name and paid Rs 35,213 towards the dues.
Police said a case has been registered at the Udupi City Police Station against the accused for allegedly misappropriating tax money and defrauding the government by affixing the seal of Union Bank on the challan without remitting the amount initially received from the taxpayer.
Further investigation is under way.
