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Wednesday, December 17, 2025
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11 states get special allocation for financial recovery

By
The Commune
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The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released an amount of ₹ 11,830 crore to States under the scheme “Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure”.

The scheme of “Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure was announced by the Finance Minister on 12th October, 2020 as part of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package. The Scheme is aimed at boosting capital expenditure by the State Governments who were facing difficult financial environment in the year 2020-21 due to a shortfall in tax revenue arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Capital Expenditure has a higher multiplier effect, enhancing the future productive capacity of the economy, and results in a higher rate of economy growth.  Therefore, despite the adverse financial position of the Central Government, it was decided to extend a special assistance to the State Governments in respect of capital expenditure, in financial year 2020-21.  The scheme has been continued in the year 2021-22 as well.

The scheme has got very warm response from the State Governments. Capital expenditure proposals of  ₹11,912 crore of 27 States were approved under the scheme by the Department of Expenditure. The capital expenditure projects have been approved in diverse sectors of economy like, Health, Rural Development, Water Supply, Irrigation, Power, Transport, Education, Urban Development.

The Scheme has three parts.  Part–I of the scheme covers the north-eastern and hill States.  ₹2500 crore were allocated under this part to the 9 North East and Hill States under this part.  Part-II of the scheme is, for all other States not included in Part-I. An amount of ₹7,500 crore was earmarked for this part.  This amount has been allocated amongst these States in proportion to their share of central tax as per the interim award of the 15th Finance Commission for the year 2020-21.

Part-III of the Scheme is aimed at pushing various citizen-centric reforms in the States.  Under this Part, an amount of ₹2000 crore was earmarked.  This amount was available to those States who carry out at least 3 out of the 4 reforms specified by the Ministry of Finance in its letter dated 17th May, 2020.  The reforms were to be certified by the nodal ministry concerned.  The 4 reforms are – One Nation One Ration Card, Ease of doing Business Reform, Urban Local Body/ Utility Reform and Power Sector Reform.  11 States qualified under this part and were given enhanced allocation under Part-III of the scheme.

(Source: PIB)

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Man dies after violating sanctity of Hindu temple; scared, two others confess

By
The Commune
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Mangaluru temples

Police on Thursday arrested two persons accused of violating the sanctity of the Sri Babbuswamy Daivasthana temple at Yemmekere in Mangaluru.

The arrested have been identified as Abdul Rahim and Abdul Taufeeq.

In recent months, several cases of vandals putting offensive messages and condoms in the hundis (donation boxes) of Hindu shrines had come to light in the coastal city.

Cases had been registered at Pandeshwar, Kadri and Ullal police stations in this regard.

Nawaz, one of the miscreants involved in the crime, took ill after the incident and died. Scared that it was a curse from the deity, the arrested arrived at the shrine and confessing to their crimes, begged forgiveness. The locals then handed them over to the police.

They admitted their crime out of fear, says police

Addressing a press meet, police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said, “In the last three months, five cases have been registered at Ullal, Kadri, and Pandeshwar police stations over miscreants dropping objectionable items into the offering boxes of temples. In Mangaluru, people believe in Koragajja and offer prayers.”

“Accused Raheem and Taufiq were in touch with the priest of a Koragajja Katte temple located at Yemmekere ground to confess their mistake. They were called during the ‘Nemotsava’ where they confessed about involving in the heinous act.”

“One more accused named Nawaz, who is the common friend of the other two accused, had come back from Dubai one and half years ago. In the last couple of months, he suffered severe health issues and passed away. Recently, the devotees carried out a walkathon from Kadri temple to Kutthar Koragajja Katte. Later, Taufiq also faced severe health issues like Nawaz. Out of fear, they decided to confess. Raheem and Taufiq used to accompany Nawaz to the Koragajja Katte to drop objectionable items in the offering box.”

“The objective behind the act is not yet known. We are probing it. As per the primary investigation, they have committed the act in three places. The modus operandi looks similar. We need to verify the hand written content as well. Both the accused voluntarily contacted the priest to confess,” he said.

The accused Taufiq and Rahim | Credits: Udayavani

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DRDO develops light weight bulletproof jacket

By
The Commune
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DRDO bulletproof jacket

The Defence Materials and Stores Research and Development Establishment (DMSRDE) lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a lightweight bulletproof jacket (BPJ) weighing 9.0 kilogrammes, meeting the qualitative requirements of Indian Army.

The Front Hard Armour Panel (FHAP) jacket, developed by the DMSRDE lab at Kanpur, was tested at Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh and met relevant BIS standards.

According to a statement from the Defence Ministry, each gram of BPJ weight reduction is crucial in enhancing soldier comfort while ensuring the survivability. “This technology reduces the weight of the medium sized BPJ from 10.4 to 9.0 kilogrammes. Very specific materials and processing technologies have been developed in the laboratories for the purpose”, the statement said.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO scientists and the industry for developing the light weight bulletproof jacket to make the soldiers more comfortable. Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr G Satheesh Reddy congratulated the DMSRDE team on the development.

(Source: PIB)

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DMK party members run away with biryani vessel in Udhayanidhi’s constituency

By
The Commune
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While all the political parties are busy with their campaigns for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the DMK is using this as an opportunity to “dine-and-dash” in every place they go campaigning in.

Earlier, in Udhayanidhi’s constituency of Chepauk, the party’s members had threatened the owner of an old building into giving them the building to set up a campaign office in the constituency. Notably, this had earlier been a shop that was to be demolished to construct a house for the owner of the plot.

Similarly, in the said campaign office, during a recent meeting of the party members, there had been requests by the attendees that biryani be served at the meeting. Adhering to these requests, a party leader had approached the owner of a biryani stall and demanded that they be served during the meeting. When the owner had replied that they would not be given any food until they pay up, the members of DMK proceeded to violently argue with the restaurant owner.

As the argument grew, one of the members had suggested that they did not have to pay if they run away with the vessel containing the biryani. Cheered on by this suggestion, the members proceeded to uplift the vessel containing biryani, and ran away with it, much to the shock and protest of the restaurant owner.

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UP: Overjoyed with large haul, thief suffers heart attack

By
The Commune
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thief heart attack

In what may be called a cruel twist of fate, a thief suffered a heart attack after not being able to contain his joy on finding out that the money he had robbed was a lot more than what he had expected.

As if the heart attack was not enough to put a damper on his spirits, a large part of the haul was spent on his treatment.

The incident , which took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor, came to light when one of the two thieves was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the theft committed last month in the Kotwali Dehat area. The accused confessed his crimes to the police during the interrogation.

Dharam Veer Singh, the Bijnor Superintendent of Police, said that two thieves broke into a public service centre owned by one Nawab Haider on the intervening night of February 16 and 17.

Following a complaint lodged by Haider, over ₹7 lakh was stolen from the centre. The police had registered a case against the unidentified accused and launched a probe.

On Wednesday, police claimed to have cracked the case with the arrest of two accused, Naushad and Ejaz, both in their early 30s, from Alipur under the Nagina police station area.

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“Your hands will be chopped off if you videotape”: DMK leader threatens Polimer TV videographer

By
The Commune
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dmk manifesto gram panchayat

An incident where the DMK threatened to chop the hands off of a videographer from a private news channel who had filmed the DMK Cuddalore candidate Iyappan’s payment default has caused quite a stir. The videographer has lodged a complaint with the police saying that his life was in danger because of the DMK.

In Cuddalore on Wednesday, DMK candidate Iyappan failed to pay the organisers during an election campaign. Ilayaraja, a videographer from Polimer TV, who was there at the time, tried to film the incident. Upon noticing that he was being filmed, Iyyapan had gone on to attack Ilayaraja and started screaming at him indiscriminately since he was filming them. Iyyappan went on to take him hostage and kept him at the house of a DMK official in Navneet Nagar.

The DMK had also allegedly threatened to destroy the video. Ilayaraja has now complained to the District Deputy Superintendent of Cuddalore after being subjected to abuse by the DMK. The complaint alleges that DMK candidate Iyappan and 15 of his supporters threatened to “take away the hand that took the video”. The police are investigating this matter and have filed an FIR against the members involved.

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Kerala: Communist cadre of SFI attack ABVP leader with iron rod

By
The Commune
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Kerala SFI

As Kerala heads for state assembly elections on 6 April, cadre belonging to the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) attacked the Union President of NSS College in Kerala’s Cherthala.

The SFI is an Indian left-wing student organisation politically aligned to the Communist Party of India.

J Anand, the President of the Students’ Union and a leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) was attacked with an iron rod. The student union president had gone to the campus to take part in the farewell program for the seniors. Also injured in the attack is ABVP activist Anu.

A police complaint has been lodged against the SFI goons.

The Alappuzha district committee has called for strong action against this new attack against the ABVP workers as the SFI has a long history of attacking rival students’ organisations.

The SFI had carried out a vicious attack last year at the NSS College, Vazhoor in Kottayam. The SFI activists had then used sharp weapons and machete in the attack, leading to several ABVP workers sustaining serious injuries.

Last month at Kerala Varma College, ABVP students were brutally beaten up by SFI when they expressed their support for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

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‘Citizen-centric governance will come from governance-centric electorate’: VP Venkaiah Naidu

By
The Commune
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The Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu today emphasized the need for people to elect their representatives on the basis of 4Cs—Character, Conduct, Calibre and Capacity and not other considerations.

Releasing the book ‘Suparipalana’, the Telugu translation of “Echo T Calling: Towards People-Centric Governance”, written by former Telangana Chief Secretary, S K Joshi, the Vice President said that unfortunately the other 4Cs—Caste, Community, Cash and Criminality—were replacing Character, Conduct, Calibre and Capacity, which are essential for providing good governance. “Citizen-centric governance will come from governance-centric electorate”, he reminded.

The Vice President said that good governance was essential to fulfill the aspirations of the people and in ensuring that various schemes were implemented effectively. Good governance was also equally important to fulfill the aspirations of the people. “Happiness comes with good governance”, he added.

Describing elected governments as ‘holders of public trust’, Naidu advised them to act responsibly and serve the people conscientiously. He called for streamlining government’s efforts to make the ease of living better for all citizens.

Naidu complimented the author Dr Shailendra Joshi, the translator Annavarapu Brahmaiah and the publisher Maruthi for bringing out the book.

(Source:PIB)

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Puff, puff, pass: Weed is now legal in New York

By
The Commune
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New York weed marijuana cannabis

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday signed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for all adults over the age of 21.

The 15th state to legalize recreational marijuana, New York is expected to quickly become one of the largest markets for legal cannabis in the United States. The marijuana industry in New York is expected to generate $350 million in tax revenue annually and potentially create 30,000 to 60,000 jobs, according to Cuomo’s office.

The measure will also expunge records for thousands of people with past marijuana-related convictions. People of color represented 94% of marijuana arrests in New York City in 2020.

About 46% of revenue from pot sales will be steered toward Latino and Black communities, per the New York Times.

While the regulatory framework and infrastructure for selling and purchasing recreational marijuana will be rolled out in the coming months, eligible New Yorkers will immediately permitted to have up to three ounces of weed for recreational use or 24 grams of concentrated forms of marijuana, the Times adds.

New Yorkers will be allowed to smoke marijuana in any public place that tobacco smoking is permitted, but not in schools, workplaces or cars. Local ordinances may apply different rules.

Residents will also eventually be allowed to have small amounts of their own marijuana plants at home and get weed delivered to their doorsteps.

‘A historic day’, says Governor Cuomo

“This is a historic day in New York – one that rights the wrongs of the past by putting an end to harsh prison sentences, embraces an industry that will grow the Empire State’s economy, and prioritizes marginalized communities so those that have suffered the most will be the first to reap the benefits,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“This was one of my top priorities in this year’s State of the State agenda and I’m proud these comprehensive reforms address and balance the social equity, safety and economic impacts of legal adult-use cannabis.”

“I thank both the Leader and the Speaker, and the tireless advocacy of so many for helping make today’s historic day possible.”

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Class IX student shot dead by classmate in Meerut

By
The Commune
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Meerut

A student of Class IX was shot dead by his classmate outside their school in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district on Wednesday morning, reports The Indian Express.

The incident occurred when the two went to collect their marksheets, according to the police.

According to reports, the victim had come to collect his marksheet from the school when the accused, his elder brother and his four friends surrounded him. After a brief argument, the accused shot the victim in the chest.

The victim was declared dead on arrival at the district hospital.

The accused, also 14 years old, has been held, according to the police. The police have withheld the name of the accused.

An officer said that the accused hid the murder weapon – a country-made pistol – and fled after the crime. “Our team will recover the weapon once details are revealed,” the officer said. “The victim’s postmortem is being conducted. The accused is being questioned and we are trying to ascertain what led to the fight.”

The FIR was filed by the victim’s father. Station House Officer (SHO) of Bahsuma police station, Mukesh Kumar, said: “According to a complaint filed by the victim’s family, the accused student, along with his elder brother and four others, gathered outside the school, accosted the victim and shot him with a country-made weapon. A case has been filed against two named and four unnamed persons under IPC section 302 (murder).”

Further investigations are on.

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TheCommune
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