Suspicious of her social media activity, K’taka man kills wife, 3-month-old baby

Crime

What began as fights about household chores between the couple soon led to Raju accusing Sushma of having an affair with a man she met online.

Theja Ram

Angered over his wife's alleged social media obsession, a 27-year-old man allegedly bashed her head in with a stone and burnt her body in a eucalyptus grove in the outskirts of Bengaluru. The horror did not end there. He also allegedly killed his three-month-old baby booy and threw the child's body in the bushes in the same grove. Two years ago, SK Raju, a resident of Ramanagara's Gangondanahalli had sent 25-year-old Sushma a friend request on Facebook. A few weeks later, she accepted it and they soon began chatting every day. "A month or so after they chatted, they met and fell in love. Over eight months ago, Sushma became pregnant and she decided to tell her parents about Raju," the Bidadi Police told TNM. Sushma's parents, first opposed the relationship but later relented and decided to get the couple married when they learnt that their daughter was pregnant. Three months ago, Sushma gave birth to a baby boy and the couple were to hold a naming ceremony in February. However, police say that all was not well between the couple and that Raju constantly picked fights with Sushma. "She was a homemaker and he worked as a warehouse as a supervisor. Raju would pick fights with Sushma as he felt she was not doing the household chores but was always on Facebook and Instagram. He had even called Sushma's father Govindaiah and told him to instruct Sushma about not using her phone so often," the police said. However, what began as fights about household chores soon led to Raju accusing Sushma of having an affair with a man she met online. "According to his statement, he became suspicious of her phone usage. He would accuse her of chatting with other men on Facebook and Instagram," the police said. The next morning, Raju told Sushma that he wanted to take her out for a picnic. He decided to drive Sushma and the baby boy to a eucalyptus grove located near Wonder La, an amusement near Bengaluru. When they were inside the grove, Raju allegedly bashed Sushma's head in with a stone. He then allegedly took out a bottle of petrol that he had brought along and poured it over Sushma, who was unconscious and set her on fire. He then allegedly smothered his three-month-old baby boy with a pillow and threw the baby's body in the bushes. On January 20, Forest Officer Shivakumar, who was out for his daily patrolling duty, smelt something foul. "I decided to see what it was. I saw some blood on a stone and there was something black just a few meters away. When I went to see what it was, it looked like a burnt body. I was so shocked. I immediately informed the Bidadi Police," Shivakumar told TNM. "The murder is believed to have been committed on January 19. I was patrolling that same area that morning and left after looking through the forest area, just like I do every day. Maybe if I had come a little later, I could have saved the woman and the child. We are looking for the baby round the clock," Shivakumar added. On January 26, the woman’s father, Govindaiah, filed a missing person complaint online. Govindaiah had stated that his daughter and grandson had disappeared and that Raju was evading his calls. "The woman's father suspected that Raju was involved in her disappearance. After the forensic report came back, we realised that the body found on January 20 belonged to Sushma, the same one reported missing," the Bidadi police said. On Wednesday, the police arrested SK Raju and grilled him for hours, after which he allegedly confessed to killing the baby boy as well. "When we went to the bushes, there was a pillow but there was no baby. We are still searching for the baby's body," the police added. Shivakumar told TNM that when they went to look for the baby’s body, they spotted a leopard prowling the area and decided to come back later. Officials now suspect that the leopard may have taken the baby’s body. Raju was booked for murder and has been remanded to judicial custody.

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Win for B’luru’s Whitefield residents: NGT restores ‘closure order’ on Graphite India

Environment

This is a vindication for the Whitefield residents who have been fighting Graphite India over air pollution, in various courts for the last 20 years.

Soumya Chatterjee

In a major victory for residents of Bengaluru’s Whitefield in their 20-year legal battle against Graphite India Limited with regards to air pollution, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday effectively spelt closure of the factory. This comes after the Supreme Court in its October 30, 2018 judgement had fixed a sum of Rs 50 lakh as penalty for the erring company, as per the ‘polluters pay’ principle. In its order on Friday, the NGT restored the closure order given by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in 2012. It further asked for a study to be conducted by an independent panel comprising members from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), KSPCB and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). The study has to be submitted to the NGT within two months’ time, the order stated. The panel will carry out stack monitoring of the industry, ambient air monitoring of the factory and the surrounding area by installing monitoring stations at 10 different locations, and also a study on source apportionment of pollution. Srinivas Kotni, the lawyer appearing for Whitefield Rising - the residents’ collective petitioning at various courts, said, “The NGT passed an order upholding the appeal made by the residents and agreed with the pollution control board closure order of 2012 setting aside the first Appellate order.” The Karnataka State Appellate Authority vide its order dated June 22, 2013, had allowed the appeal of Graphite India. However, out of the three members, one of them had passed a separate dissenting judgement. “In effect, they agreed with the single dissenting judgement of the first Appellate order,” Srinivas added.   The verdict comes after the residents had first approached the National Green Tribunal in 1997 over the company’s blatant violation of norms and emission of black dust. Over the years, residents claim they have been exposed to greater air pollution and are at a higher risk of pollution-related health complications since Graphite India continued operations by exploiting legal loopholes and due to lack of stringent measures by the KSPCB. Details of the NGT order Criticising the Appellate Authority judgement, the NGT order observed, “We need not enter into further details of the case except to observe that the appellant, while assailing the impugned judgment of the Appellate Authority, submitted that the Appellate Authority had overlooked vital relevant facts and glaring evidence of pollution caused by Respondent no. 1 (Graphite India) as it had been indisputably identified as pollution from graphite. It is contended that pollution caused by graphite industry is clearly distinguishable from vehicular and other pollutions. That apart, severe impact on the health of the residents resulting from graphite particulate matter was not taken into consideration.” It added, “Upon careful consideration of the judgment passed by the majority of the Members, we find that the reasons assigned for holding the order of the KSPCB to be bad are not backed by any scientific evidence or data. It rather appears to be presumptuous. The crux of the findings of the majority judgment is that the black soot or dust cannot be attributed to the Respondent no. 1 alone as there were other industries including cement industries in the area apart from the heavy vehicular traffic in the vicinity. It has also been held that the KSPCB had not examined the case keeping in view the other likely sources of pollution. The other remarkable observation in the majority judgment is that the residents complaining of the pollution had settled in an industrial area near the industry being fully aware of the pollution that would be caused.”

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Drone Olympics, 19 flying displays: Aero India 2019 promises to be bigger and better

Aero India

There will be 17 flying displays by HAL and seven displays by foreign agencies, including two flying displays of Rafale jets.

Theja Ram

Representation Photo

The 12th edition of Aero India in Bengaluru's Yelahanka Air Force Station is all set to kick off between February 20 and 24 and the event is expected to be bigger and better than the ones held before. Preparations for the air show have reached their final stages and this year, the start-ups under the Make In India initiative in Defence will be showcased during the show. Aero India 2019 will also have a drone competition and a Women's Day special where Sunita Williams, a record holder for the maximum number of spacewalks by a woman, is expected to participate in the seminar on February 24. This time around, Aero India will also witness Drone Olympics. The participants will kick-start the competition at the Government Flying Training School in Jakkur and the finalists will participate at the Aero India event on February 21.    "There will also be a day where the theme will be start-ups. The Ministry of Defense is still planning it out. There will be companies who will showcase their ideas during this show," an official said. In addition, the Union government has instructed Sainik schools and other schools in Karnataka to bring students for the air show. "We are expecting 10,000 students to participate in the various events and seminars. The aim is to recruit more people into the armed forces," the official added. Over 5 lakh people are expected to attend the show and officers at AFS Yelahanka say all issues they faced during the air show in 2017 are being dealt with. For starters, the general public, who will be arriving to view the show, will have to go to the ariel display viewing area via gate number 8, 9, 10 and 11 only. This would mean that they will have to make their way through Yelahanka Town and will not be allowed to use the the Yelahanka Main Road. Only exhibitors, service providers and the media will be allowed to use this road. Traffic diversions for those going towards the airport are also expected. The airport road will be closed and commuters will have to make their way to BIAL via Hennur. In addition, a parking space is being arranged to overcome the issues faced during the 2017 show. This time, the task has been contracted to a private company, which will be handling the issue. Shuttle services will be provided between the parking lot and the ariel display viewing area in order to avoid pedestrian traffic along the Yelanhanka Main Road. "We have identified two highways for beautification and the state government is also working on widening the road as soon as possible. The garbage generated will be cleared out once every half hour. This time we will install 1,000 toilets for people to use. There will be two food courts instead of one and also an Indira Canteen, which will offer food at affordable rates," said Air Commodore in-charge of the Yelahanka Air Force Station, Ravuri Sheetal. This time around, HAL will be the event organiser as opposed to the Defence Exhibition Organisation. "There are 21 sub-committees which the HAL has set up specifically to coordinate various operations for Aero India 2019. As of now, 31 flying display teams have registered and 21 static display teams have registered and 365 companies both Indian and foreign have confirmed their participation. There will be a large number of business-to-business, government-to-business and government-to-government meetings during the show," said Wing Commander Amit Kumar, in-charge of Aero India. The air show will also have two additional display stalls – G and F. In 2017, the show had A, B, C, D and AB stalls for static display. "On an average, 80-90 aircraft can be displayed in each stall, again, depending upon the size of the aircraft," he added. There will be 19 flying displays by the Indian Air Force and 17 by HAL and seven displays by foreign agencies including two flying displays of Rafale jets.

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Angry HD Deve Gowda warns Congress, asks high command to reign in MLAs

Politics

JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda blamed his former protege Siddaramaiah for the tension between the coalition partners in Karnataka.

TNM Staff

PTI/file photo

Two days after Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said he was ready to resign, an angry HD Deve Gowda has warned the Congress national leadership to “intervene.” "Things have already reached a final stage. Before the situation goes out of control, the Congress high command must intervene and impress upon their state leaders. I am seething with anger from within and watching the developments carefully,” the JD(S) patriarch said at the JD(S) Plenary Session held on Wednesday. Kumaraswamy had offered to quit when asked to react on comments made by a section of Congress MLAs close to Siddaramaiah – one of them said that Siddaramaiah was the CM even now, while another said developmental work was going on a slow pace as Siddaramaiah was no longer the CM. The MLAs were slapped with a show cause notice on the insistence of Karnataka AICC-in-charge KC Venugopal. The former PM blamed his former protege Siddaramaiah for the tension between the coalition partners. “He (Siddaramaiah) has been nursing a grudge against us as he thinks I scuttled his chances of becoming CM on two occasions. Once, when I vacated the post after being chosen as PM candidate in 1996 and secondly when we formed a coalition government with Congress in 2004,” he said. A hung verdict in the May 2018 assembly elections led the Congress – with about 80 lawmakers–  support the JD(S) with 37 legislators to form the coalition government on May 23. This after the BJP, with 104 MLAs, quit office on May 19 for failing to prove simple majority in the 225-member House. “What pains me is that he (Siddaramaiah) in an interview to a television channel said twice that I could have gone to Delhi and ensured that he became the chief minister and that I did not. He also said that I did not impress upon Sonia Gandhi (then Congress chief) to make him the chief minister. He has been nursing this pain and anger for long now. But I have no hate. I am ready to discuss with him why I did not make him the chief minister on both occasions,” Deve Gowda added.

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Drone Olympics, 19 flying displays: Aero India 2019 promises to be bigger and better

Aero India

There will be 17 flying displays by HAL and seven displays by foreign agencies, including two flying displays of Rafale jets.

Theja Ram

The 12th edition of Aero India in Bengaluru's Yelahanka Air Force Station is all set to kick off between February 20 and 24 and the event is expected to be bigger and better than the ones held before. Preparations for the air show have reached their final stages and this year, the start-ups under the Make In India initiative in Defence will be showcased during the show. Aero India 2019 will also have a drone competition and a Women's Day special where Sunita Williams, a record holder for the maximum number of spacewalks by a woman, is expected to participate in the seminar on February 24. This time around, Aero India will also witness Drone Olympics. The participants will kick-start the competition at the Government Flying Training School in Jakkur and the finalists will participate at the Aero India event on February 21.    "There will also be a day where the theme will be start-ups. The Ministry of Defense is still planning it out. There will be companies who will showcase their ideas during this show," an official said. In addition, the Union government has instructed Sainik schools and other schools in Karnataka to bring students for the air show. "We are expecting 10,000 students to participate in the various events and seminars. The aim is to recruit more people into the armed forces," the official added. Over 5 lakh people are expected to attend the show and officers at AFS Yelahanka say all issues they faced during the air show in 2017 are being dealt with. For starters, the general public, who will be arriving to view the show, will have to go to the ariel display viewing area via gate number 8, 9, 10 and 11 only. This would mean that they will have to make their way through Yelahanka Town and will not be allowed to use the the Yelahanka Main Road. Only exhibitors, service providers and the media will be allowed to use this road. Traffic diversions for those going towards the airport are also expected. The airport road will be closed and commuters will have to make their way to BIAL via Hennur. In addition, a parking space is being arranged to overcome the issues faced during the 2017 show. This time, the task has been contracted to a private company, which will be handling the issue. Shuttle services will be provided between the parking lot and the ariel display viewing area in order to avoid pedestrian traffic along the Yelanhanka Main Road. "We have identified two highways for beautification and the state government is also working on widening the road as soon as possible. The garbage generated will be cleared out once every half hour. This time we will install 1,000 toilets for people to use. There will be two food courts instead of one and also an Indira Canteen, which will offer food at affordable rates," said Air Commodore in-charge of the Yelahanka Air Force Station, Ravuri Sheetal. This time around, HAL will be the event organiser as opposed to the Defence Exhibition Organisation. "There are 21 sub-committees which the HAL has set up specifically to coordinate various operations for Aero India 2019. As of now, 31 flying display teams have registered and 21 static display teams have registered and 365 companies both Indian and foreign have confirmed their participation. There will be a large number of business-to-business, government-to-business and government-to-government meetings during the show," said Wing Commander Amit Kumar, in-charge of Aero India. The air show will also have two additional display stalls – G and F. In 2017, the show had A, B, C, D and AB stalls for static display. "On an average, 80-90 aircraft can be displayed in each stall, again, depending upon the size of the aircraft," he added. There will be 19 flying displays by the Indian Air Force and 17 by HAL and seven displays by foreign agencies including two flying displays of Rafale jets.

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Karnataka eyes investments, jobs in electric vehicles segment

Business

"Karnataka offers incentives to manufacture electric vehicles in the state, which has potential to attract investments worth Rs 31,000 crore in the sunrise sector, create over 55,000 direct jobs," Industries Minister said.

IANS

Representational image

Tech-savvy Karnataka would offer incentives to attract huge investments in rolling out electric vehicles (EV), generate jobs and opportunities for research in the e-mobility segments, said a state minister on Wednesday. "Karnataka offers incentives to manufacture electric vehicles in the state, which has potential to attract investments worth Rs 31,000 crore in the sunrise sector, create over 55,000 direct jobs and provide opportunities for research and development (R&D) in electric mobility," said Karnataka Industries Minister K.J. George at a summit on EVs. As the first state in the country to have a policy to encourage use of eco-friendly electric vehicles with zero emission, George said the state government would have single-window clearances to be a preferred destination for attracting investors in the EV segment. Taiwan-based Teco Electric Company president George Lien said his firm would work with Karnataka government to bring in technology to make EVs as it was in the business of energy optimization in India. South Korean Wevio president Calvin Yi said his global firm was signing an agreement with the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for setting up a joint venture and exchange technology between Indian and Korean firms. "We would like to help India in freeing its cities from air pollution from automobiles by encouraging Korean firms like Hyundai to make 300-km charging range EVs by this year-end in India," said South Korean Ambassador Shin Bong-Kil on the occasion. ICC Director-General Rajeev Singh said the apex trade body would work with central and state governments across the country to attract investments and generate jobs in the EV sector. "We plan to bring a delegation of EV and charging station makers from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which have a vibrant EV manufacturing ecosystem," added Singh. As part of the summit, IBC Expo has organised a "EV 360" exhibition where automobile major Mahindra Electric, Sun Mobility, Ather Energy, E Trio, NRD Eco Motors, Jitendra Electrical Vehicle and Ampere showcased their technology and products in EV sector.

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Himachal woos Karnataka firms to invest in hill state

Business

CM Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday urged companies based in Karnataka to extend their operations to the northern region.

IANS

Representational image

Pitching for investments in diverse sectors in the hill state, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday urged companies based in Karnataka to extend their operations to the northern region. "I would like Karnataka-based companies in IT, electronics, automotive, apparel, biotech, renewable energy and manufacturing to invest in our state and avail of the various benefits offered to investors," said Thakur at a roadshow on the global investors' meet in his home state at Shimla on June 10-11. Addressing captains of industry at an interactive session, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) ahead of the 'Rising Himachal Global Investors Meet' in June, Thakur urged the tourism industry to invest in the picturesque Himalayan state, which is rich in flora and fauna. "Since our government came to power in December 2017, we have put effort to improve the ease of doing business, as evident from higher ranking for our state by the Union government," said Thakur. The federal government has recently ranked Himachal top among the fast movers category in ease of doing reforms. The Baddi-Nalagarh industrial belt has emerged as a key manufacturing hub for diverse sectors and the region is known to be Asia's largest bulk drug manufacturing area. "The global investors' meet will highlight our hill state as a place for investment and opportunities and to realise its potentiality. Your participation in the summit and its sectoral sessions will generate ideas for the development of the state," said Thakur. Highlighting the tourism potential in the state, the BJP chief minister said as pure air and bio-diversity were the state's biggest assets, his government would strive to make Himachal a global sustainable tourism destination in the world. "With road, rail and air connectivity under Udan across the state, Himachal is no longer at the periphery but at the centre of a vibrant and surging economy," said Thakur. The state government is gearing up to attract investors across sectors like logistics and warehousing, aroma, food processing, biotechnology, automobiles and electric vehicles. Himachal Industries Minister Bikram Singh said 337 reforms were taken under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) to jump 28.37 per cent with 94.13 per cent score. Himachal Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Manoj Kumar said the state had 1,600 acres of land bank for industries like bulk drugs pharma park and biotechnology park in Solan, textile park in Una and industrial township in Kangra and Una. The global investors' meet in June will showcase the state's capabilities and readiness to take on business challenges. It will guide the state to wider avenues of business possibilities by implementing technology, policies, practices and strategic investments. The meet will focus on tourism, electronics, education, skill development, Ayurveda, manufacturing, infrastructure and logistics, power and renewable energy, agro business, pharmaceuticals and food processing. CII Karnataka Chairman N. Muthukumar said Himachal had emerged as one of the progressive states in the country and adjudged recently the best in sustainable development goals by the United Nations.

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