Reactions to the penalty have been sympathetic. (Picture credit: Unsplash) A Japanese civil servant recently got in trouble for smoking on the job more than 4,500 times in 14 years. He was hit with a fine worth around $11,000 for lighting cigarettes during work hours. According to a report by The Straits Times, the authorities in Osaka laid down the law on the 61-year-old employee, along with two colleagues in the prefecture's finance department, by enforcing a 10 per cent pay cut for six months for repeatedly smoking during work hours despite multiple warnings. In September 2022, the human resource office received an anonymous tip that the trio were secretly stashing tobacco. The trio were summoned by their supervisor and warned that they may face consequences if they are caught smoking again. However, the three continued smoking and lied about it when interviewed in December 2022. Osaka has some of the strictest smoking laws in the world. It introduced a total ban on smoking cig...
Bengaluru: The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday announced that polling in Karnataka for 224 assembly seats will take place on 10 May and the vote-counting exercise to decide the political outcome in the southern state will take place on 13 May. The three major political parties in Karnataka — the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and former allies Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) — are leaving nothing to chance to get another crack at power, but there are many aspects that can potentially unravel these aspirations. ThePrint takes a look. Also read: Farewell speech but innings far from over for 79-yr-old Yediyurappa — BJP ‘backbone in Karnataka’ B.S. Yediyurappa The 80-year-old Lingayat strongman, BJP leader, and four-time chief minister of Karnataka is potentially the most important figure in the poll-bound state. His popularity will play an important role not just in the fortunes of the BJP but also of other political parties like the Congress and JD(S). The BJP is well...