Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah announces social media ban for under-16s to prevent adverse effects of mobile use

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that social media will be banned for children under the age of 16 while presenting the 202627 State Budget in the Vidhana SoudhaDuring his Budget speech Siddaramaiah said the move aims to prevent the adverse effects of increasing mobile usage among childrenHe also announced that an AI and Technology Park will be set up under the Indian Institute of Science which will establish a Robotics and AI campus named the Bangalore Robotics and AI Innovation Zone in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation and Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation LimitedThe Chief Minister further said that the NorthSouth Corridor project from Hebbal Junction to HSR LayoutSilk Board Junction and the EastWest Corridor project from K R Puram to Mysore Road covering a total length of 40 km have been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 40000 crore under the BOOT model In the first phase tenders have been invited for the 17km NorthSouth Corridor project for Rs 17780 croreSiddaramaiah also announced that a tunnel road and an elevated road from Hebbal Junction to Mekhri Circle will be constructed by the Bangalore Development Authority at Rs 2250 croreKarnataka State Budget has been pegged at Rs 448004 crore with a focus on technologydriven growth infrastructure development and environmental sustainabilityPresenting the Budget Siddaramaiah said that Karnataka plays a distinctive role in national and international trade and rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence AI are transforming global production systems He emphasised that innovations in science and technology are increasingly shaping the trajectory of the state In this context he said the Budget has been presented with responsibility and foresight to move forward with the resolve to turn fire into lightThe Chief Minister also highlighted the impact of GST rate rationalisation carried out in September 2025 He said the changes have reduced the states GST collections Before the rationalisation Karnatakas average monthly GST revenue growth in 202526 was around 10 per cent net of refunds However after the implementation of the revised rates the average monthly growth has moderated sharply to around 4 per cent The restructuring is expected to reduce overall GST collections by approximately Rs 10000 crore in the current financial year and Rs 15000 crore in the next yearAmong the major announcements Siddaramaiah said that with the objective of establishing a stateoftheart AI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru two centres will be set up in collaboration with the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms and NASSCOM at a total cost of Rs 16 croreHe also announced that a Leopard Rehabilitation Centre will be established in Bannerghatta Biological Park to rehabilitate leopards captured from residential areas on the outskirts of Bengaluru at an estimated cost of Rs 5 croreUnder the Karnataka Water Security and Resilience Programme KWSRP a World Bankfunded initiative disaster management projects will be undertaken over five years for Rs 5000 crore to address flooding in BengaluruSiddaramaiah further announced that in accordance with revised transfer rules of the Excise Department transfers of GroupC cadre officers including Excise Inspectors Excise SubInspectors and Excise Head ConstablesConstables have been carried out through digital counselling to enhance transparency The government will also extend digital counselling for transfers of Excise Deputy Superintendents and Excise SuperintendentsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever