Low-intensity earthquake hits Shivamogga’s Thirthahalli taluk

Earthquake

Reports of a second earthquake began to do the rounds on Monday, but this was dismissed by the state disaster monitoring centre.

TNM Staff

Yadur in Shivamogga

A low-intensity earthquake on Sunday morning measuring 2.2 on the Richter Scale spread panic among residents of Shivamogga’s Thirthahalli taluk. Tremors were felt in parts of Thirthahalli, Agumbe, Hosanagara, Yedur and also in Siddapura in Udupi district. No loss of life or property damage was reported in the areas, but several alarmed residents rushed out of their homes when the tremors occurred. Reports of a second earthquake began to do the rounds on Monday, after panic-stricken residents of Yadur village claimed that they heard a loud sound and felt fresh tremors at 12:20 pm. Following this, Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner KA Dayananda reached out to the state disaster body asking for a clarification. Then Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) stated that there was no fresh earthquake recorded in Thirthahalli on Monday afternoon. “There was a low-intensity earthquake on Sunday. However, no activity was registered from the area on Monday,” said Ramesh L Dikpal, a scientist working in the earthquake division of KSNDMC. He also said that quarrying activity would not lead to an earthquake of the magnitude recorded in Shivamogga. “The earthquake has occurred on the lineament or a discontinuity in the strata. These are natural fault zones or weaker zones that are prone to earthquakes. Due to stress and strains occurring in and around the lineament reaching the maximum limit, earthquakes recur in these areas, usually once in 100 years," said Ramesh. A lineament or a fault is a thin zone of crushed rock which separates blocks of the earth's crust. KA Dayananda also dismissed doubts that quarrying could have caused the earthquake. “The only stone quarrying unit in the area was closed down a year ago, and there was no quarrying activity in the area where the earthquake has occurred,” he said. Similar earthquakes were registered in the area in 1843 and 1975, and the one on Sunday occurred 43 years after the last recorded earthquake. The epicentre of the earthquake was located in Vittalnagar, on the outskirts of Thirthahalli, where a small stone mining quarry is located. The epicentre is also close to Mani Dam, part of the Varahi Hydroelectric Power Plant. However, scientists warn that quarrying activity can cause earthquakes to recur in shorter periods of time. “Quarrying often involves high-intensity explosions and can indirectly lead to earthquakes. It can bring down the time period between recurrences of earthquakes," Ramesh, the KSNDMC scientist, added.

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Chennai techie taken hostage for 8 hours in Bengaluru, robbed of Rs 45,000

Crime

Anurag had missed his bus to Chennai when he was pushed into a van and held hostage for 8 hours.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

A 25-year-old Infosys employee from Chennai was abducted and robbed of Rs. 45,000 after he missed his bus late in the night in Bengaluru. Anurag Sharma, who works as a senior systems manager with Infosys in Chennai, was returning after attending a family function in Bengaluru. He was to leave in a bus at 11:50 pm on January 31 from a bus stop near the Audi Service center on Hosur Main Road in Bengaluru. However, he missed the bus after he reached the bus stop late. At around 1 am, things took a turn for the worse for Anurag when a white Maruti Omni van pulled over and a man pulled him inside the van. Two people waiting at the bus stop with him also rushed into the van as it sped away. Inside the car, Anurag was blindfolded and assaulted by three people while the driver continued to drive around the city. "I was pinned down to the floor of the car and my wallet and phone was taken from me. They took my credit and debit card and threatened me to give up the pin," Anurag said in his statement to the police. Eventually, the attackers withdrew Rs. 45,000 in total after stopping at several ATMs and using the credit cards owned by Anurag after he divulged the ATM pin at knife-point. The ordeal ended over 7 hours later at 8:30 am on Friday morning when he was thrown out of the van near Chandapura with his hands and legs tied. Anurag later freed himself and visited Narayana Multi-Speciality Hospital for treatment. In his complaint, Anurag stated that he remembered two names - Rahul and Umesh - used by the attackers. He also identified the attackers to be between 20-25 years of age along with an older driver. Anurag was earlier working with Infosys in Mysuru before shifting to Chennai. Police officials are investigating the case after registering an FIR in Parappana Agrahara Police Station in the city.

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Trump’s State of the Union pledge: Ending HIV transmissions by 2030

Under the president’s 10-year strategy, health officials would target the U.S. communities with the most HIV infections.

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BBMP makes details of property tax, works available online

Civic issues

Activists have welcomed the move by BBMP stating that it improves transparency and empowers ward committees in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has published a list of works taken up and property tax collected in every ward on its website. The move has been welcomed by activists for improving transparency and empowering ward committees in the city.  "This is transparency that we dreamed of and we believed will help empower ward committees. At the round table the Commissioner said it will be done and he did it today", Srinivas Alavilli, a member of Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), which has been campaigning for regular ward committee meetings said.  The group had earlier in November 2018 asked for a list of works taken up by the BBMP along with property tax collected in each of the 198 wards in Bengaluru since ward committee meetings in the city were being held without this information made public. The request was made in a round-table meeting with the BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad.   Website Link: BBMP Ward Committee Details “It’s the first time in the BBMP’s history, ward-wise details of projects and tax collection data are made available to the public,” said Manjunath speaking to Deccan Herald. The data published includes the property tax collected for 198 wards of Bengaluru for the years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 and all the works taken up by the civic body from April 1 2016 to January 31 2019. The BBMP has also notified details of works taken up on major roads and other government projects.   “The ward-wise works data could be improved by adding details of works completed, pending and deadlines set. BBMP can also expose the GIS mapping of properties and colour code those who have paid the tax and those who have not. This will further empower ward committees to ensure better tax collection in their respective wards,” V Ravichandar, former member, BBMP Restructuring Committee said to The Hindu.

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Centre’s drought aid for K’taka less than 40% of actual request: Dinesh Gundu Rao to PM

Politics

While the Karnataka government had sought Rs 2,434 crore to compensate for the crop losses in drought-hit districts, the Centre approved only Rs 949.49 crore aid.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Dinesh Gundu Rao bemoaned the central government's apparent favouritism in disbursing drought-aid relief to the state. On January 29, the central government had announced Rs 949.49-crore aid to drought-hit Karnataka. However, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dinesh, who had requested a ‘minimum’ of Rs 500 crore, pointed out that only a fraction of the funds requested for drought-relief was approved. "The Karnataka Government sought relief aid of Rs 2,434 crore to compensate for the crop losses in drought-hit districts. Our government in Karnataka had declared 86 taluks in 23 districts drought-affected during the Kharif season in 2018 and an additional 14 taluks in nine districts were also declared as severely drought affected. However, your government only approved Rs 949.49 crore aid. The relief measure announced for Karnataka by your government makes up for less than 40% of the actual request for drought assistance," read the letter. Read: Centre gives Rs 949 cr aid to drought-hit Karnataka Dinesh further decried the central government's decision to declare assistance of Rs 4,714. 28 crores for drought-relief measures in Maharashtra  "On the other hand, your government's assistance to the State of Maharashtra stood at Rs 4,714,28 crores. I would like to let you know that this show of favouritism by your government is not appreciated by the people of Karnataka," the letter further read.   According to the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), as many as 100 out of 175 taluks in Karnataka are reeling under the effects of drought. The state government has announced a farm loan waiver scheme to help farmers abate the crisis. In comparison, BJP-ruled Maharashtra has declared that 151 out of 358 taluks are affected by drought, as per a report. The Karnataka government had earlier stated that a total of 26.18 lakh hectares of agricultural area and 1.94 lakh hectares of horticulture area have suffered more than 33% crop loss. A Congress-JD(S) coalition government is in power in Karnataka. Dinesh further requested the central government to pay the workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). "Our government requested to ensure timely payments for jobs under MGNREGA but your government's apathy towards the state continued. Mandatory payment of MGNREGA workers to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore is pending in Karnataka. It is a violation of the law and it is a burden that most vulnerable people cannot bear," he added in the letter.

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How your health information is sold and turned into ‘risk scores’

Information used to gauge opioid overdose risk is unregulated, used without patient consent.

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Iconic Manipal landmark Tiger Circle taken down

Human Interest

The circle got its name from the presence of tigers in the area in the 1960s.

Prajwal Bhat

Photograph of Tiger Circle via Manipal Blog

The Tiger Circle, a landmark at the centre of Manipal near the bus stand in the town, has been taken down due to the development of the national highway connecting Udupi to Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district. The circle falls on National Highway 169A, which is being developed into a 30-metre wide concrete road. The national highway is being developed from the Malpe Fishing Harbour to Thirthahalli in Shivamogga and covers Udupi, Manipal and Agumbe along the way. A fountain which stood at the centre of the circle in the student town has also been taken down. It is unclear whether the circle and the fountain will be restored once the road widening work is completed. “I am in discussion with the National Highways Authority about this. It is not part of their initial estimate to reinstate the circle. They have not said anything conclusively, but we are pressing them to get the circle reinstalled because many roads join there. It can lead to traffic chaos. There is also historical importance attached to it since it has been around for many years," Udupi Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis told TNM. Tiger Circle taken in 1990-91 | Photograph by Ranjeev Singh, MIT Photography Club Long-time residents of Manipal remember the landmark area of the town fondly, and recall that tigers were seen in the area in the 1960s, hence giving the circle its infamous name. “What they have removed is a small circle that was recently built. There was an older and bigger circle where the bus stop and auto-rickshaw stand is located now. The students of the first few batches of medical and engineering students in Manipal spotted tigers near the circle,” said Ravindranath Shanbagh, a resident of Manipal for the last 52 years.   Photograph by Ranjeev Singh, MIT Photography Club He added that Manipal was surrounded by forests then and that many animals were commonly seen in the centre of the town. "The stretch of land between the Manipal University building all the way to End Point were all forests until a few years ago. In fact, tigers, leopards and deers were all common sights at the circle until as recently as the 1960s,” he said. Tiger Circle before the fountain was built Manipal, a small hamlet in Udupi district of Karnataka, has transformed into an educational hub with around 28,000 students from 57 countries currently studying in the town. While no tigers have been spotted for years, a leopard was spotted in the town on April 9, 2014, prompting forest department officials to trap it and release the animal into the forests nearby. Tiger Circle fountain Students and alumni of Manipal University shared their dismay about the news of the removal of the circle and the iconic fountain, with the Manipal University logo emblazoned on it. #Manipal - Once upon a time had tigers, then vanished. Pic 1- Manipal once had a Tiger Circle. Pic 2- Now that too vanished.#lovemanipal pic.twitter.com/gFUXFr72Xa — Sushma (@sushmahari) January 30, 2019 Growing up in Udupi, I was brought up on stories from my Ajja of the tiger that was killed at Manipal. The spot was known to us as Tiger Circle. Stories of encounters with leopards, jackals from the forest abounded, but none came close to that tiger storyhttps://t.co/7JcGACQCcr — Nakul Shenoy (@NakulShenoy) February 2, 2019 All photographs courtesy: Manipal Blog

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