Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: How to protect yourself from cyber crimes, and more

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar along with the State Cabinet staged the ‘Chalo Delhi’ protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi today against the ‘financial injustice’ of the Central government. Mr. Siddaramaiah has accused the PM Modi-led NDA government of economic disparities, and that his government stands against the unfair treatment in tax devolution and grants for ‘Kannadigas’.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rubbished the charges by the CM and other Congress leaders, terming the allegations to be a “politically vitiated narrative” that is being propagated by some vested interest groups. Devolution to the States happens in direct tax matters, as per the recommendations given by the finance commission.

Coffee growers in Karnataka, the leading coffee-producing State in India, are unhappy that the recently presented Union Budget did not provide any “relief” to them. Coffee growers had anticipated a subsidy on the interest for the loans they have taken, given the low yields experienced over the past three years, primarily due to climate change and a shortage of labour.

Karnataka produces over 70% of India’s coffee, while most of the rest is produced by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. However, coffee growers in 10 taluks across Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, and Hassan have been in distress since 2018.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at six more locations on the Bengaluru–Mysuru access-controlled expressway to address violations and speeding.

Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simmha revealed that the NHAI has earmarked ₹3.6 crore for installing the ANPR cameras. He stated that the cameras are tailored to capture speeding, lane discipline violations, wrong side movement, and activities of two and three-wheelers, among other offences.

The National Crime Records Bureau report for 2022 showed that 17,470 cyber crimes were registered in India, up from previous years. Bengaluru, the ‘IT capital’, which had topped the list the previous years too, accounted for nearly three-fourths of the cases recorded in 19 metro cities.