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24 flat owners of Chander Kunj Army Towers in Kochi yet to get rent from AWHO
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The owners had vacated their apartments last year. | The towers are slated for demolition.Of the 200 apartment owners found eligible for rent until they are handed over new apartments in place of the demolished ones, 39 have so far opted for the buy-back option. The owners of 24 apartments were initially denied rent on the technical grounds that they had failed to submit affidavits claiming eligibility to the District Collector’s committee, entrusted with overseeing the demolition and reconstruction, before August 12 last year, as directed.However, they submitted their affidavits on October 14, which was duly recorded at the Collector’s committee meeting the same day. Later, a sub-committee chaired by the Fort Kochi Revenue Divisional Officer, constituted to review implementation and ensure strict compliance with the demolition and reconstruction process, also verified their claims and upheld them as rightful.The Collector’s meeting, originally scheduled for Wednesday (June 24, 2026), was expected to issue relevant orders in this regard. But the meeting has since been postponed.“AWHO has denied payment of rent to the 24 apartment owners, demanding submission of loan-related documents, a demand that has no basis. The meeting was also supposed to initiate steps for publishing the Request for Proposal for appointing the Project Management Consultant, which is critical to the entire project,” said Saji Thomas, president of the Chander Kunj Army Towers Apartment Owners Association (CATAOA).As per a High Court verdict, rent was fixed at ₹30,000 per month for apartments in the B tower and ₹35,000 for those in the C tower. AWHO had paid the initial tranche of ₹2.97 crore for six months till March this year. However, there was a delay in releasing the second tranche, prompting the apartment owners to file a contempt of court petition. Since then, the second tranche has been disbursed, except to the 24 apartment owners concerned who did not receive any rent during the first tranche release as well.Besides, AWHO has not yet paid the one-time shifting charges of ₹30,000 to any of the apartment owners, a claim also included in the contempt petition. Published - June 23, 2026 03:08 pm IST
A COMEDK authority said that they had started the counselling process and even option entry is under way. | As mentioned in the consensual agreement signed between the State government and the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA), both parties have agreed to COMEDK going ahead with its counselling schedule if KEA fails to complete the first round of counselling by July 10, 2026.A COMEDK authority said that they had started the counselling process and even option entry is under way. “But as per the agreement, we will wait till July 10, 2026, to announce the results of the seat allotment. If KEA fails to complete the first round of seat allotment by then, we will announce our results,” he said.However, even on June 13, 2026, KEA did not receive the final seat matrix of the engineering courses, and there is no clarity about the counselling schedule yet.Sharan Prakash Patil, Minister for Medical Education and co-chairman, KEA, promised that he will discuss the issue with the Chief Minister soon. “I will meet and discuss the issue with the Chief Minister. As the higher education portfolio is with the Chief Minister now, he has to give approval for the final seat matrix for engineering courses,” he said. Published - June 13, 2026 09:11 pm IST
Industry representatives said no formal training or operational guidelines have been issued to help staff implement the new measures. | On June 9, Director General and Inspector General of Police M.A. Saleem issued a detailed circular mandating stricter enforcement of age-verification norms at pubs, breweries, bars, clubs, lounges, restaurants, and all establishments serving liquor. The circular requires outlets to verify the age of patrons before granting entry, or serving alcohol, and mandates a strict ‘No ID, No Entry’ policy across Karnataka.However, several industry stakeholders told The Hindu that while the rule itself is not new, there is little clarity on the operational aspects of enforcement.“Nothing new has been introduced. The legal drinking age has been 21 years for as long as I can remember. What is confusing is the requirement regarding retention of ID copies. The circular mentions that IDs must be retained for inspection, but it is not clear whether establishments are expected to take photocopies or photographs. There are also concerns about whether customers would be comfortable with that,” Chethan Hegde, founder of 1522 Pub at Koramangala told The Hindu.Identifying fake IDsA manager at a pub in Bengaluru’s central business district said that the larger challenge lies in identifying fake IDs, particularly digital versions displayed on mobile phones. “Almost 30% of the Aadhaar cards we come across are edited or manipulated. Driving licences are comparatively harder to tamper with. Physical PAN cards are also easy to verify, but digital copies of documents can be problematic,” he said.“As long as a document is shown on a mobile phone, there is a possibility that it has been altered. We have seen cases where minors edited their date of birth, and attempted to gain entry. In several instances, staff detected the discrepancies, and turned them away,” he added.Another manager of a pub on Church Street said that establishments face practical limitations even when checking physical IDs. “If it is a genuine physical document, verification becomes easier. But there is no foolproof way to identify every fake ID. Asking customers for copies of their identification also raises concerns about privacy, potential misuse of personal data, and the logistics of maintaining records when hundreds of patrons visit during weekends.”DigiLocker-based verificationSeveral bar managers and a cybersecurity expert pointed to DigiLocker-based verification as the most reliable solution currently available.G. Vimal Kumar, cyber forensics and private cybercrime investigation expert at Cyber Privilege, said visual inspection of digital documents is insufficient. “When a customer merely shows a scanned copy or screenshot of an ID on a phone, entry staff cannot authenticate it visually. This creates an opportunity for minors to use manipulated digital documents to bypass age restrictions,” he said.Mr. Kumar said that DigiLocker verification becomes effective only when establishments scan the QR code generated within the official application. “The customer must open the DigiLocker application on their device, and present the QR code for verification. Simply looking at a digital card is not enough. QR code authentication closes a major loophole,” he explained.Some establishments have already adopted this approach. A pub in Indiranagar has installed scanning devices at its entrance, and does not accept soft copies of Aadhaar cards. A few establishments have shifted entirely to DigiLocker-based verification after encountering repeated instances of forged digital IDs.Industry representatives, ho
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