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Karnataka Today newsletter: Karnataka Cabinet to implement all five pre-poll guarantees this financial year, and more

Bringing an end to the speculation over the implementation of pre-poll guarantees of the Congress, the Karnataka Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has decided to implement all five guarantees during this financial year. Shakthi — the scheme for free travel for women — will be the first to be launched on June 11. The decision was taken following a Cabinet meeting on June 2, 2023.

The Congress government was under pressure from the Opposition parties over implementation of its guarantees that had received in-principle approval from the first cabinet on May 19. Earlier, on Wednesday, the Finance Department had provided multiple options to implement them through a presentation to the Council of Ministers. The government also estimated that the implementation of these schemes may cost about ₹50,000 crore every year.

The Mangaluru city police have arrested four persons in connection with a ‘moral policing’ incident at Someshwar beach, near Ullal, on the outskirts of the city on June 1 evening. Around 7.30 pm on Thursday, three boys — who were accompanied by three girls — were questioned and assaulted by a group of 10 persons at the beach. The 112 Emergency Response Support System vehicle of the police, which got wind of the incident, rushed to the spot.

This is the first ‘moral policing’ incident to be reported in Mangaluru since the new Congress government came to power, which has said it will show ‘zero tolerance’ to such activities.

Passengers of a non-AC KSRTC sleeper bus had a providential escape when a wild tusker attacked the bus near Gundya in Dakshina Kannada district on June 1 night.

According to the driver’s account, the bus crossed had crossed Subrahmanya and was moving towards Gundya. Suddenly, the elephant, which was standing on the flanks of the road, charged towards the bus and hit the vehicle on its left side with its trunk and tusks. While the body of the bus was extensively damaged, fortunately, none of the passengers were injured.